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RED SERIES

THE

COMiVIONWEALTH

AUSTRALIA

THE IION.BERNHARD R.WISF

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University of California.

Class

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THE ALL RED SERIES

THE COMMONWEALTH
OF AUSTRALIA

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The All Red Series is designed
at once to quicken the interest of
Englishmen in the extension and
maintenance of the Empire, and
to give an account of its constituent
countries as they are to-day — ^their
physical features, natural products,
commerce, and social and poUtical
institutions. They are intended
alike for the immediately practical
use of emigrants or visitors, and
for the study of those who stay
at home.

Uniform with this volume

THE DOMINION OF NEW

ZEALAND

Sir Arthur Percy Douglas, Bt.

Late Under-Secretary far Defence,

N.Z.

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THE

CO M M O N WE ALTH
OF AUSTRALIA

B. R. WISE

^ OF THP ^

LONDON: SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD.
No. 1 AMEN CORNER, E.C «^ «^ 1909

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btNEHAL

Printkd by Sir Isaac PirnAir
ft SoH8» Ltd., London, Bath
AND Nbw York • • 190e

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ALFRED DEAKIN

192438

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PREFACE

There axe many histories of Australia and many descrip-
tions of its scenery and customs ; but no one has presented
a general view of the Commonwealth, both as a country
and a nation, as Mr. Bryce, for instance, has done for
the United States.

Yet Australia, from her geographical position, — ^if for
no other and more sentimental reason, — ^must always
be of interest to the Empire. Dominating the Pacific,
and placed astride of the trade-route between America
and China, she is not only the outlying frontier of England
towards the Far East — ^which is the Empire's most vulner-
able side — ^but she is also the ultimate heir of Java,
Sumatra, and the Celebes, in the event of the absorption
by Germany of Holland. In one set of contingencies,
when promptitude might make the difference between
salvation and destruction, she could anticipate by a
fortnight the landing of troops in either India or China .
in another she would be mistress of the richest tropical
possessions in the world, at a time when commercial
supremacy largely depends upon control of the tropics.

Nor is Australia less worthy of attention if we regard
her internal development and material wealth. She has
been and is a laboratory of political experiments ; and
is facing the problems of Democracy in a spirit and by
methods which are in striking contrast to the spirit and .
the methods of the American Democracy upon the other
side of the Pacific. In mere wealth and productive power
her handful of people, — four millions scattered over a
country as large as the United States, if we exclude the
ice-bound portion of Alaska, and larger than Europe
without Spain, — excels every civilised commimity. And

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ym PREFACE

yet no one, who knows the country, can doubt that
even Australia's immense output will be increased, a&
more good land comes under cultivation, ^d engineers
solve the problems of water conservation and cheap
transport.

Thirdly, Australia is the most British coimtry out
of Great Britain. Canada has its French province, the
Dutch are in South Africa, the United States are a
medley of races ; but 97 per cent, of the population of
Australia is of pure British descent. For the first time in
history, as Sir Edmund Barton pointed out with apt
terseness dining the campaign for Federation, there is
" A Continent for a Nation and a Nation for a Continent."
Englishmen in England cannot be indifferent to the
destiny of such a people, so situated and with such
resources.

This little book is, of necessity, a sketch in outline^
and must conform to the series in which it appears.
But, although it cannot cover the ground of Mr. Bryce's
classic, it can at least explain some of the special
features of Australian policy, and the ideas, temper and
conduct of its people. The plentiful lack of knowledge
about Australia justifies such an attempt.

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PROEM

Thekb is a land in distant seas.
Full of all contrarieties.
There, beasts have n[iallards' bills and legs ;
Have spurs like cocks, like hens lay eggs :
These quadrupeds go' on two feet.
And yet few quadrupeds so fleet :
And birds, although they cannot fly.
In swiftness with the greyhound vie.
Witb. equal wonder you may see
The foxes fly from tree to tree ;
And what they value most — so wary, —
These foxes in their pockets carry.
There parrots walk upon the ground ;
And grass upon the trees is found ;
On other trees, another wonder.
Leaves without upper side, or under.
There, apple trees no fruit produce,
But from their trunks pour dd'rous juice.
The pears youll scarce with hatchet cut ;
Stones are outside the cherries put :
Swans are not white, but black as soot.
There the voracious ewe-sheep crams
Her paunch with flesh of tender lambs.
There, neither herb, nor root, nor fruit
WiU any Christian palate suit ;
Unless, in desp'rate need, you fill ye
With root of fern, or stalk of lily.
Instead of bread, and beef, and broth,
Men feed on many a roasted moth ;
And find their most delicious food
In grubs picked out of rotten wood.

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PROEM

There, birds construct their shady bowers,
Deck'd with bright feathers, shells, and flowers :
To these the cocks and hens resort.
Run to and fro, and gaily sport.
Others a hot-bed join to make.
To hatch the ^gs which they forsake.
There, missiles to far distance sent
Come whistling back with force unspent.
There courting swains their passions prove
By knocking down the girls they love :
The sun, when you to face him turn ye.
From right to left performs his journey.
The north winds scorch ; but when the breeze is
Full from the south, why then it freezes.
Now, of what place can such strange tales
Be told with truth, but New South Wales ?

Benilsy's Miscellany, 1846.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I— A GROWING NATION
CHAPTER I

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS

Arba a nd Limits — D^ gpiptjon — ^Rainfall — River Systems — , .

< Artesian Water^^^^Scencry and Climate — Fertility — //^/

Prodnctiveness — ^Droughts \ 1

CHAPTER II

THE PEOPLE

The ^Over-sea Briton — ^The Changed Skies — Characteristics
— City Life — Housing — Living — Amusements —
Horse-racing — Other Sports — ^An Easy Life •« . . 19

CHAPTER III

THE BUSH

/ A Country Life— Characteristics — Bush Life — Isolation — The ]

( Sundowner— The Squatter— The Cattle-run— The Planter / // V ^

V — ^The Selector— The Country Towns 88

CHAPTER IV

POLrriCS AND THE WORKING MAN

The Aim of Australian Democracy — ^The Paradise of the
Working Man4-A Contrast of Methods — ^Australian
Socialism — Social Progress v. Material Advance — ^A Policy
not a Philosophy • 50

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Xn CONTENTS

CHAPTER V

THE LABOUR PARTY

rACB

^ The Opportanity — ^The Maritime Strike — ^Labour turns to
Politics — A Retrospect — ^The Caucus — ^The Programme —
What the Party stands for 59

CHAPTER VI

EDUCATION

(

(1) Distribution over States — ^New South Wales — ^Victoria —
South Australia — West Australia — Queensland — ^Tas-
mania. (2) Amount and Quality : Cost — ^Attendance-
Curricula — Private Schools — Summary — Secondary Edu- \ ) (^
cation — ^Technical Education — Universities. (3) Practice /
and Ideab /73

/
CHAPTER VII

THE PUBLIC LANDS : A WASTED HERITAGE

Early Land Systems — The Wakefield Theory of Colonisation )

and the Agrarian War — ^The Orders in Council of 1847 — /

The Squatters and the People — ^The Wakefield Experiment /
in South Australia — An Inmiigration Policy . . . . 9Z

CHAPTER VIII

" BACK TO THE LAND "

The Cry for Land — ^Experiments in Settlement — ^Assistance
to Settlers — ^How the Land is Held To-day .. .. 125

CHAPTER IX

MATERIAL GROWTH

Private Wealth — ^Diffusion of Wealth — Savings — Production
— ^The Pastoral Industry — Farming and Dairying —
Agriculture — Mineral Productions — The Manufacturing
Industry — Internal Trade— Oversea Commerce — ^The
Balance of Trade — Indebtedness — Banking — ^Summary

1;^

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CONTENTS XIU

PART II— THE GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER I

THE FIGHT FOR UNION

FAOB

Provincial Divisions — ^The First Steps — ^The Convention of
1891 — ^The Draft Bill— Note on the Contest . . . . 161

CHAPTER II

THE NATURE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The Double Aspect of Federation — ^Distinction Between a

Federal and a Sovereign Government — ^The Sphere of ]

the Commonwealth — The National Sovereignty — ^Federal / , ^

Powers — Special Provisions — ^Navigation and Immigra- / / /

tion — ^Differential Railway Rates — Railway Construction 172 ,/

CHAPTER III

THE EXECUTIVE

The Crown — The Executive Council — Responsible
Government — An Experiment 191

CHAPTER IV

PARLIAMENT

The Governor-General — ^The Senate — ^The House of Repre-
sentatives — ^Relations between the two Houses — ^The
States House— Money Bills — Deadlocks — ^Tacking —
Limitation of the Legislative Power — ^The Prerogative-
Fundamental Laws 197

CHAPTER V

THE JUDICIARY

The Judiciary and the Constitution — ^Appellate Jurisdiction
--Original Jurisdiction — ^The Guardian of the Constitution 212

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XIV CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI

THE WORKING OF THE SYSTEM

Requisites of the Cabinet System — ^The Party S3^tem —
Members — ^The System in Working — ^Elective Ministries

— ^The Referendum — ^Members and the Constituencies

" Reckless Legislation " — ^Misunderstandings . . • • 219

CHAPTER VII

THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM

(The Financial Problem — ^A Uniform Tariff — ^The Surplus and i
its Distribution — ^The Transferred Expenditure — ^A
Commonwealth Budget — ^The Return to the States — ^The
Public Debt 235

PART III— LEGISLATION
CHAPTER I

TARIFFS AND PREFERENCE

The First TarifE — ^The EfEect on Industry — ^The National
Policy — Imperial Preference — ^The Displacement of
British Trade — Should Trade Follow the Flag ?— The
Value of the Gift of Preference — Preference to British
Ships — Extensions of the Policy of Preference — ^Preference
and Imperial Union . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

CHAPTER II

The Problem of Commerce— The " Harvester " Case — ^Thc
Australian Industries Preservation Act — Monopolies —
Dumping — ^Tariffs and Labour — Tarifis — Corruption . . 266

CHAPTER III

" A WHITE AUSTRALIA"

•k

The Policy — Its Administration — Coloured Crews — Kanaka
Labour and the Sugar Industry — The White Man and the
Tropics — Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . 274

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CONTENTS XV

CHAPTER IV

THE COMMONWEALTH AND IMMIGRATION

MOB

Contract Immigrants — Strike-breakers — Ambiguity Removed
— State-aided Immigration . . . . . . . . . . 281

CHAPTER V

INDUSTRIAL LIFE
Division I

The Eight Hours' Day — Early Closing — Victorian Efforts —
The New South Wales Act of 190(^Legislation in other
States — ^Factory and Shop Legislation — General Industrial
Legislation — ^A Paradox Explained 288

Division II

Wages Boards — Industrial Courts — Collective Bargaining —
Industrial Unions — ^Industrial Agreements — ^The Deter-
mination of Disputes — Conciliation — Preference to
Unionists — ^Membership of Unions — ^The Court and its
Powers — ^The Common Rule — Prohibition of Strikes and
Lock-outs — Underlying Principles — ^The Act in Operation
— Is it one-sided ? — ^A New Measure — Wages Boards and
Courts Compared — ^The Scope of the Acts — ^Note to
Chapter 298

CHAPTER VI

OLD AGE AND INVALIDITY PENSIONS

Schemes in Operation — ^Administration — A Federal System —
Invalidity Pensions .. 325

CHAPTER VII

DEFENCE

Before Federation — ^After Federation — ^Inadequacy of the
System — The Enemies of Australia — Compulsory Service
— ^Naval Defence — Conclusion . . 329

Appendix I. Routes to Australia . . 344

Appendix II. Note on Loan Policies . . . . 348
Index . . 349

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ILLUSTRATIONS

SYDNEY HARBOUR FfOfUispiece

PACIMO
PAOB

A BORE 16

AN AUSTRALIAN RACE-COURSE 30

CAMEL TRANSPORT 44

VIEW OF MELBOURNE 62

PITT STREET, SYDNEY, N.S.W., IN 1853 ... 94
KING WILLIAM STREET, ADELAIDE • . . .118

HARVESTING AT COLEBROOK 134

TRANSPORTING TIMBER 150

BRIDGE STREET, SYDNEY 176

VIEW OF PERTH Id4

A STAGE COACH 220

A MOB OF SHEEP 248

A BANANA GROVE 278

THE queen's WHARF, LAUNCESTON, TASMANIA . . 300

A RABBIT-TRAPPER'S CAMP 326

A COMPARATIVE CHART page 14

MAP OF AUSTRALIA • • • • focing ,, 356

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Of-

THE COMMONWEALTH
OF AUSTRALIA

PART I— A GROWING NATION

CHAPTER I

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Arba and Limits — Description — Rainfall — River Sjrstem —
Artesian Water — Scenery and Climate — Fertility —
Productiveness — Droughts.

Australia, as a geographical expression, includes the
continent and islands which lie between the tenth and
forty-fifth degrees of south latitude and the one hundred
and thirteenth and one hundred and fifty-fourth degrees
of east longitude. As a political expression, the term
now includes the territory of Papua and the depen-
dencies of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. In general
parlance, the term means the six States of New South
Wales, Victoria, South Australia (including the Northern
Territory) ; Western Australia and Queensland, which
are situated on the continent, and the adjacent island of
Tasmania. It is in this sense then, that " Australia " will
be used in the present volume. The term " Australasia " is
given to all the British possessions in the Western Pacific
and includes New Zealand.

Australia is bounded on the north by the Timor Sea,
the Arafura Sea and Torres Strait ; oil the east by the
Pacific Ocean ; on the south by the Southern Ocean ;
and on the west by the Indian Ocean. Its total area

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

is 2,974,581 square miles. The area of the mainland^
is 2,948»366 square miles ; that of Tasmania is 26,215
square miles. Its greatest breadth is 2,400 miles, between
Shark's Bay on the west, and Sandy Cape, the extreme
point of the east coast. From north to south — ^from
Cape Otway to Cape York — ^is 1,700 miles.

These figures are too large to be apprehended easily.
Their significance is better understood by a comparison.
Australia is larger than the United States, if the Arctic
portion of Alaska be omitted from the calculation ; it
is more than three-fourths of all Europe : it is about
twenty-five times as large as either the United Kingdom,
Norway, Austria or the Transvaal. It is, in fact, more
than one-fourth of the whole area of the British Empire,
and is habitable in every part. •

Description

The physical features of Australia are remarkable in

several respects. In no other country in the world

does a coastal line bear so small a proportion to the area

of the continent, — ^the coastal perimeter being only equal

to one mile for every 333 square miles of area.*

Australia is also pecuUar among continents, in that it

^ The area of the mainland is distributed between the States
as foUows : —

SUte

Area in
aqoare miles

Capital

New South Wales

310,372

Sydney

Victoria

87.884

Melbourne

Queensland

670.500

Brisbane

South AustraHa (total)

903.690

Adelaide

„ (Northern Territory)

(523,620)

(Port Darwin)

.. (proper)

(380.070)

Western Australia

975.920)

Perth

* The central portion of the continent used to be regarded as
a desert. Later knowledge, however, has caused a considerable
modification of this idea ; and much of the so-called " desert "
is now occupied for pastoral purposes.

* Europe has only seventy-five square miles of area to each
mile of coast-line. England and Waues have only twenty-five.

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AN INVERTED SAUCER

possesses neither mountains^ within reach, above the
level of perpetual snow, nor active volcanoes. Another
peculiar feature is the absence of any rivers connecting
the coast-line with the interior. Lakes of any size
or permanence are also lacking. The general appearance
of the continent may be likened to an inverted saucer.
The rim of the saucer is a rich belt of alluvial soil, well
watered by rivers and of great fertility. Its average
width is, approximately, forty miles. This belt is quite
plainly marked along the eastern side of the continent
and on the southern coast-line of Victoria. It becomes
broken along Spencer's Gulf, and is replaced by sand-
hills on the margin of the Great Australian Bight. It
reappears as the western coast of the continent is
reached, and runs, with some interruptions, towards the
north. On turning towards the east and following the
Northern Territory, the coast-line is again fringed with
a level belt, which has markedly different features from
the plateau of the interior. Above this level rim and
forming (as it were), the circular ridge of the inverted
saucer, is the Great Dividing Range. This runs in an
unbroken chain from Cape York, which is the northern-
most point of the east coast, to the boundary of Victoria
and South Australia on the southern coast. The same
range can be traced, over Torres Strait, into the island
of New Guinea, and, over Bass' Strait, into Tasmania.
On reaching South Austraha its continuity is broken ;
but it reappears in Western Australia. It does not
run along the northern coast. The greatest elevation
of the range, — which is at no place more than 250 miles
from the sea at its furthest edge, — ^is in the Australian
Alps, * at the confines of Victoria and New South Wales,

> It illustrates the variety of the Australian climate that,
in the district of Monaro in New South Wales, where these
moontains are situated, the mails are delivered during six months
of the 3rear by men on snow shoes. Crown Lands in that district
are leased on what are called " snow leases.'*

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

where Mount Kosciusko attains a height of 7,900 feet.
The seaward slope of the range is sharp and precipitous,
and often presents very bold escarpments. The chasms
of the Blue Mountains, in New South Wales, and the
falls in the Barron Ranges, in Queensland, are known
throughout the world for their imposing grandeur. On
the western side the descent is gradual, until, in the
country above Spencer's Gulf, the plain is not above the
sea level. There is another gradual rise towards the
coastal ranges of Western Australia. This great central
plain, which forms the bottom of the inverted saucer, is
the most distinctive feature of the Austrahan continent.

Rainfall

The Dividing Range and the central plain give the
key to the climatic peculiarities. of Australia. The sea
breezes, which strike the eastern shore, precipitate an
ample rainfall on the coastal districts. In Sydney, for
example, the average rainfall over a period of forty-two
years was fifty inches, and along the coast of Queensland
it averages from fifty to seventy inches a year. But
these rain-laden winds are checked by the Dividing
Range ; and while Sydney has its fifty inches of rain in
a year, Milparinka, in the western district of the State,
receives only nine inches. The great central plain
depends for its refreshment on the monsoonal depression
and the western trades. When these have strength
enough to penetrate to the interior, the face of the land
becomes transformed in a single night. Plains which
looked as bare as a city street, become green at once
with a luxuriant growth of grass and herbage, and the
air becomes so tempered by moisture that these growths
remain for considerable periods.

Thus, although Australia is a "dry" country, the
epithet may easily mislead. There is an ample rainfall
in the settled districts round the coast, and, even if the

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NAVIGABLE RIVERS

settler penetrates into the interior, he will find a yearly
average of twenty inches, until he reaches the great
central depression, which forms at present the limit of
settlement. He must not, however, expect to find
running or permanent water. For one of the most
curious features of Australia is that, with the exception
of the Murray and its tributaries, all the rivers spring
from the seaward slopes of the Dividing Range. And
even the Murray sj^tem, which flows inland, although
on the map it appears very important, is, for the greater
part of every year, a series of water-holes.

River Systems

The Murray itself springs from the inland slope of the
Australian Alps, in the south-eastern comer of New
South Wales. For 1,250 miles the centre of its bed forms
a boundary between that State and Victoria; and for
510 miles further it runs through South Australia until
it enters an arm of the sea, which is known as Lake
Alexandrina.^ At Wentworth, which is 570 miles from
the sea as the river runs, it is joined by the DarUng —
having previously received the waters of the Murrum-
bidgee and the Lachlan, which drain the western part of
New South Wales. The Darling-Mturay has a length
of 3,282 miles, so that, if it were a continuous course of
water it would rank among the longest rivers in the world.
It is, indeed, navigable in some seasons for stem-wheel
steamers drawing barges so far as Walgett, a distance
from the sea of 2,345 miles. But it requires exceptional
conditions to reach this point, and it is impossible to
return from it during the same season. There is regular
navigation on the Murray from the sea to Wentworth ;
and, in favourable seasons, boats ascend this river as far
as Albury or even to Wagga-Wagga on the Murrumbidgee.

^ There are very few fresh water lakes in Australia, and none of
any size. The term is usually applied to shallow depressions of
mud and salt, which only fill with water after rain.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

It will be one of the works of the future to make
this river system fit for navigation, by building dams,
weirs and locks, and by systematic snagging. The
consciousness on the part of South Australia of this
certain development has given rise, as will appear later,
to one of the most acute problems of Australian politics.
The work, however, will be very difficult and costly,
owing to the irregularity and inequality in the rainfall,
and the immense area of almost level lands which this
river system drains.^ In ordinary times these western
rivers run in a sluggish and almost imperceptible stream,
varying in width from twenty to a hundred yards, between
high banks of porous red or black soil. In summer the
shallows are evaporated by the sun, and the river's course
is interrupted. A heavy rainfall then fills the distant
tributaries, and, if it continue, causes a connection
between them and the parent river, which spreads the
waters for hundreds of miles over the surrounding country.
The porous soil, however, soon gives back the water it
received, and the river channel, falling again to its
accustomed level, carries the inmiense volume of water,
which has fallen on a thirsty soil, wastefully into the sea. •
The problem for AustraUa is to find a method of con-
serving the water which falls on the dry plains, where the
possible evaporation is often greater than the actual
rainfall.* Besides the Murray and its tributaries,
another system of water-courses drains the western

• It is estimated by the officials of the New South Wales Water
Conservation Department that not more than ten per cent, of
the rainfall on the catchment area of the Darling river above
Bourke (N.S.W.) discharges itself past that town.

• " The different appearance of these rivers in a dry and wet
season explains the conflicting reports of early explorers, one
regarding the interior as an inland sea, the other as a desert."
Official Year Book of the Commonwealth, p. 70.

• "At Coolgardie (W.A.) the evaporation was 85 inches in 1905.
And at Laverton it was 1408 inches or nearly 12 feet." Official
Year Book of the Commonwealth, p. 118.

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THE WATER SUPPLY

districts. This comprises the so-called " rivers " which
are absorbed by Lake Eyre in South Australia. Like the
rivers in the Murray sjrstem, these run in wet weather,
but for the greater part of the year they are only a suc-
cession of ponds. These soakages» however, provide
water for stock.

Artesian Water

Fortunately, the inhabitants of the dry districts are
not entirely dependent on the rivers for their water
supply. Much has been done by private persons by
sinking underground tanks, which are protected from
the wind and the direct ra)^ of the sun, and by tree-
planting, to store and conserve water, and the State
Governments provide tanks at all convenient stopping
places on the main stock-routes. But the greatest
source of supply since 1879 has been artesian borings.
It was discovered that a water-bearing stratum under-
lies nearly the whole of the gentle slope which falls
from the inland side of the Dividing Range to the great
central depression, and that this can be tapped by bores
at varying depths from 150 to 5,000 feet. Most authori-
ties hold that this supply is drawn from underground
rivers, and is therefore inexhaustible. Professor Gregory,
however, takes * the view that the bores are only draining
underground chambers or caverns of limited contents.
Certainly, while it has not yet been shown that any two
bores are drawing from the same river, neither is there
any perceptible diminution in the supply. The worst
that has happened is that the water is so charged with
soda in various forms that it becomes useless for irriga-
tion purposes. When drawn at a distance from the
central depression of the continent it is excellent for
drinking, but it gets more salt as it approaches the desert
fringe, until it becomes unfit for domestic uses. Thus,

^ See Stanford's Compendium of Geography. — " Australasia."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

while we need not give up hope that these hidden springs
may yet make the centre of Australia " blossom hk^ a
rose," their nature is, at present, too httle understood
to justify confidence. Certainly artesian wells have not
made up for that which is the greatest of all Australia's
needs, namely, a chain of snow mountains in the interior.
Owing to the actual configuration of the continent, the
rainfall in its central basin must always be scanty and
uncertain. The desert of California has been redeemed
by water from the Rocky Mountains. Irrigation in the
centre of Australia would require to be fed from the
tropical rivers. This may not be impossible, but it is
not a work for this generation. All that can be done
at present is to store such rain as falls, and by tree-
planting and other methods, conserve it from evaporation.
The seaward side of the Dividing Range presents a
very different picture. Numerous rivers, — deep, wide
and long, — carry their fertilising waters across the sea-
board rim of the saucer continent. Some of these, such
as the Victoria in the North West Territory, are navi-
gable for all vessels for a considerable distance ; but most
of them are blocked at their entrance to the sea by bars
of shifting sand, which make navigation intricate and
difficult, and impossible for craft which draw more than
fifteen feet. The Swan River in Western Australia,
the Paramatta and Hawkesbury RiVers in New South
Wales, and several of the rivers of the northern coasts
are notable exceptions. A characteristic featiu-e at the
mouth of these bar-bound rivers is a lagoon of fresh
water which is often only separated from the sea by a
few feet of sand. Large svmis of money are spent by
the Government of each State in overcoming the diffi-
culties of entrance to the coastal rivers by means of
dredging and breakwaters, but without much success.
Still, in spite of all impediments, a considerable trade
has sprung up along the rivers, and between the rivers

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FOREST LANDS

and the high lands; while the fertility of their banks
is attracting a large and concentrated population, and
they have already become the centre of the dairying
industry.

Scenery and Cumate

From this description of the physical features of
AustraUa it becomes possible to form some idea of its
appearance. Roughly speaking, the continent is divided
into three distinct kinds of country — ^the forest lands
of the coastal rim, the upland plains of the descending
downs and the central basin of desert. The coastal
districts, rich in alluvial soil, well-watered by rivers,
and with ample rainfalls, grow a profusion of trees and
v^etation. As the ground rises towards the mountain
range, the timber becomes bigger and the forest more
dense. On the foot-slopes, creepers, palms and ferns
form a screen of luxuriant foUage, which disappears
on the uplands, where the eucalyptus grows in open grassy
glades, that give the landscape the appearance of a park.
Great rolling downs, with frequent clumps of timber,
form the beginning of the inland slope from the Dividing
Range. Gradually these give i^ace to an expanse of tree-
less plain, which, at one time only carrying a sheep to ten
acres, promises now to rival the wheatfields of Canada.
Trees are still found by the river banks, until, as the
r^on becomes more arid, " bushes, scrubs, and dwarf
eucalyptus, with belts of pine at intervals, give place to
a scant and inferior vegetation."^ The belt of good
land is naturally widest towards the north, where the
rivers ruiming into the Indian Ocean drain extensive
areas of good land, and is narrowest on the southern
coast. In the south-west comer of the continent are
extensive forests of jarrah ; and Western Australia
has another great forest belt, some 350 miles in length

^ Year Book of the Commonwealth, p. 110.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

from SO to 100 in breadth, which is not on the coastal
side of the range, but extends eastward towards the
interior. The north-western and northern districts of
the continent which are not yet much known, have the
characteristic scenery of the tropics, with the pecuUarity
that behind the coast-line, at no greater distance than
100 miles, nms a plateau of dry and healthy pastures,
which is said to be also capable of growing wheat.

It will be perceived from this rapid survey of the prin-
cipal physical features of an immense continent, that
Austraha has a great variety of climate. The eastern
portion of Tasmania recalls England as much by its
seasons as by the hedgerows which divide its fields.
The western portion of the island, on the contrary, is a
land of perpetual rain, where the forest is so dense, that
the roads are built on a tangle of creepers and fallen
trees thirty feet or more above the ground. Victoria,
across the Straits, has less extremes of temperature than
any other State ; but it is much exposed to the dry winds
— ^hot in summer, raw in winter, — ^which, although
health-giving, cause much discomfort. The mean tem-
perature of Melbourne is 57*3^, which is 6** less than
that of Sydney and T than that of Adelaide. The
coast of New South Wales, along two-thirds of its length,
resembles the Riviera in cUmate and the coast of Greece
in colouring. The other third is sub-tropical and runs
into the sugar districts before the northern boundary
of the State is reached. The climate loses its humidity
upon the inland side of the Dividing Range, and the great
plains of the interior, though scorched by the sun for
four months of the year, are Uke Egypt in the winter,
for the remaining eight. They are a perfect sanatorium
for all pulmonary complaints. ^ The magnificent district

> Deaths from tubercular diseases have steadily decreased
in proportion to the population from 1*100 per thousand in 1891
to '808 per thousand in 1905. Cancer, on the other hand, has
increased in about the same proportion.

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CLIMATE AND WEATHER

of the Darling Downs marks the b^innmg of Queensland,
and affords a welcome refuge in the summer from the
coastal heat. At Rockhampton the climate begins to
lose all European characteristics, and, long before the
summit of Cape York is reached, it is entirely tropical.
Tropical characteristics continue along the northern and
north-western coasts, but temperate regions begin
again mid-way on the descent of the western coast.
Perth, the capital of Western Australia, has the pleas-
antest climate of all the State capitals. For, although its
mean temperature is 63-7, yet, even in sunmier, it enjoys
cool nights and mornings. But the best climate in
Austraha is to be found in the south-western comer
of Western Australia, in the forest district to which
reference has already been made. Very similar to the
climate of this district is that of Mount Gambier in the
eastern part of South Austraha. Adelaide, the capital
of the last mentioned State, suffers much in summer
time from hot winds ; but by way of compensation it
has beautiful swnmer quarters upon a range of cool hills
within a distance of ten miles. On the whole the Austra-
Uan climate is not severe ; and for some imexplained
reason white people thrive there, even in the tropical
districts. ^ As Mr. Knibbs, the Statistician of the Com-
monwealth, points out (Year Book, p. 115) ''the
continent is less subject to extremes of weather than are
regions of similar area in other parts of the globe ; and
latitude for latitude, Australia is, on the whole, more
temperate." * Accordingly, although about five-thirteenths
of its whole area Ues within the Tropic of Capricorn,
between this portion and Tasmania there is such variety

1 Further reference to this wiU be found in Chapter III,
p. 274, " A White Australia."

* Far example, while the isotherm for 70 Fahr. extends in
South America and South Africa as far aouth as lat. 33, in Aus-
tralia it only reaches to lat. 30. In the Northern hemisphere
the same isotherm reaches as far north as 41.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

of climate, that an immigrant from any part of Europe
will find, somewhere in Australia, a district capable of
growing in abundance any product of the soil with
which he was familiar in his native land.

Fertility

Yet the development of Australia was not rapid. A
seaboard of precipitous cliffs and bar-bound inlets, and
an interior of apparently waterless desert offered little
attraction to the early settlers. But as the country
became better known, and men learnt to understand its
ways, it was perceived that Nature had indeed poured
out her gifts with lavish hand upon the island continent.
Limitless pastures stretched behind the coastal ranges,
and the bars, when dredged, gave admittance to noble
rivers ; so that the edges of the so-called " desert "
receded every year before the advance of man. Then
unsuspected stores of water were discovered under and
above the groimd ; sheep were found to thrive best upon
the dry western plains : the highlands of the north, the
home of the buffalo, proved equally good for cattle :
minerals were discovered in the centre, until only a narrow
strip of spinifex coimtry in the heart of the continent
remains to-day unused. Portions of the earth, as, for
instance, Java and Sumatra, are richer than Australia ;
but no area of equal dimensions contains so much
wealth or in greater variety. The soil produces in
abundance ; all animals improve there and produce a
better stock ; it is the greatest gold-producing country
in the world ; * silver, copper, tin, and other minerals
are found there ; its coal supply is inexhaustible, and
it has considerable deposits of iron, while its stores of

> The Transvaal Colony produces now a larger annual quantity ;
but Australia has a far larger gold-bearing area, most of which
18 undeveloped. Up to 1906 Australia had produced ;(474,91d,047
worth of gold.

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MINERAL WEALTH

platinum and many other rare minerals are almost
imtouched. It is also rich in precious stones and promises
to rival Africa as a producer of diamonds. Rich indeed,
has been the dowry which Australia has brought to the
men who wooed her boldly !

Productiveness

Yet because the coastal districts are the most fertile
portion of the continent, and also the most closely
settled, while the great interior is comparatively and
sparsely peopled, some very erroneous conclusions have
been formed as to the fertility of Australia by people
who do not realise the magnitude of the continent. A
writer in the Melbourne magazine Life ' — ^Mr. T. K. Daw —
has done good service in exposing this fallacy. Referring
to a statement that '^ Australia can never be a great
country, because it is incapable of supporting a large
population," Mr. Daw points out that the coastal
fringe, alone, the fertility of which is universally admitted,
is "much larger than all the countries of Europe put
together, if we leave out Russia. There is also room,"
he adds, " on the maritime belt for a portion of Russia,
while the whole of the interior does not make up an area
one-half the size of the Czar's European dominion. To
say that because some portions of the smaller interior
are arid, there is not room for large populations upon a
maritime territory, larger than Germany, France, Spain,
Italy, Austria and the smaller populous countries of
Europe, must result from something worse than ignor-
ance." The map which illustrates this statement is here
reproduced.

The detractors of Australia have urged that the whole

^ Life, August, 1908. The author acknowledges with thanks
tiie courtesy of Fito^ett Brothers Proprietary, Limited, the
publishers of Life, in permitting him to reproduce the map
which appears in this section, with Mr. Daw's explanatory
comments.

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AREA FOR CULTIVATION

of the maritime area is not good. Let it be conceded that
a portion of it is bad ; it should also be remembered
that portions of the interior are good. " How much is
good," Mr. Daw aptly remarks, ''is mainly a question
of meteorology. There is no continent on which rich
s6il has been so widely and evenly distributed as on
AustraUa, and consequently in this country more than
any other, productiveness depends on rainfall." Aus-
tralian experience shows that agriculture can be success-
fully pursued in districts where the average annual
rainfall is not more than twelve inches, and that fifteen
inches is a sufficient fall to ensure good returns. Now,
in Australia there are 827,000 square ntiiles which enjoy
a rainfall of more than twenty inches per annum, — ^that
is to say from five to eight inches more than experience
has proved to be necessary for successful agricultural
settlement. Mr. Daw adopts a striking method of
bringing home to readers the significance of these figures.
Canada, he remarks, has claimed that " the nineteenth
century was the century of the United States : the
twentieth will be the century of Canada," and the claim
rests upon the area of land within the Dominion suitable
for cultivation. He then compares Canada with AustraUa
in this respect. Canada, it is claimed, has 250,000,000
acres of agricultural land. The figures seem astounding.
But if Australia calculated also in acres her SZJjDOO square
miles of agricultural land, — i.e., land over which the rain-
fall is more than twenty inches a year, — ^would become
529,000,000 acres, an area which is more than twice as
large as the magnificent territory which is expected to
shift London to the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean.
It will be observed that their calculation does not include
the half-miUion square miles (320,000,000 acres) with a
probable rainfall of from twelve to twenty inches, and
leaves out of account the possibihties of settUng population
in the more arid districts by paying attention to

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

irrigation, water conservation, the storage of fodder and
** dry farming " methods. Even so it is manifest that
Australia possesses to-day an area of virgin territory
suitable for agriculture, greater in extent than that
which is claimed either for the United States or for
the sister Dominion. Account must be taken also of the
fact that there are 50,000,000 acres of irrigable land
vdthin the watershed of the Murray River sjrstem, which,
when suppUed with water can support at least three
million people.

Droughts

In comparing Australia with Canada the freedom of
the former from frost must not be left out of account.
Work can be followed in Australia all the year round,
which is not the case in Canada. On the other hand,
AustraUa is Uable to droughts from which Canada is
comparatively free. This disadvantage must not, how-
ever, be exa^erated. Austraha has never yet suffered
from a general drought; but there have alwajrs been
localities, even in the settled districts, where sheep and
cattle would have flourished had means of transport
been available. This climatic feature gives hope for the
future, and justifies the extension of railways into
pastoral districts without an over cautious eye to traffic
returns.

Nor must it be forgotten that the rapidity with which
AustraUa recovers from a drought is one of the most
remarkable features of its soil. Even animals feel the
impulse to renew their species. Ewes will drop two or
more lambs at a birth and have been known to have
three lambings in a year after a protracted period of
dry weather.

The ravages of drought and the recuperative power of
the continent are strikingly illustrated by the happenings
of the period 1903-1906. The first of these four years

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:f-

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■ V

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THE GREAT DROUGHT

marked the climax of the longest and most extensive
drought ever recorded, either in the annals of Australia
or the traditions of the aborigines. It lasted, vdth short
breaks, for six years, and affected, in turn, all the settled
districts of the continent. During this period sixty
million sheep and four million cattle must have died
from starvation. Crops failed, and Australia was obhged
to import food*stufis. Mining operations languished
for want of water. Commerce fell off, and the spectre
of unemplo3rment stalked in every capital. Yet three
years later, in 1906, AustraUa reached the apex of her
prosperity. In production, commerce, industry and
every outward sign of material growth she excelled all
previous records. Figures can only give a vague idea
of these events, and yet they are necessary to accurate
statement.

In 1901 there were 72,040,211 sheep in the Common-
wealth, of which the natural increase should have been,
in an ordinary season, at least ten per cent. In the next
year, however, the number fell to 53,668,347. That is
to say, — ^reckoning the natural increase at seven millions,
which is a low computation — ^there perished in one year
fifteen-and*a-half million sheep. The number of cattle
fell in the same period from 8,493,678 to 7,067,242— a
loss of nearly a miUion-and-a-half, without allowing
for the natural increase. The wheat production fell in
the same season (1902-3) from 38,500,000 bushels to
12,300,000. Yet in the following season (1903-4) after
the drought had broken, the production of this cereal
rose from 12,300,000 bushels to 74,149,000, which is
the highest production yet recorded. The number of
sheep recovered more slowly, as the drought continued
longer in the pastoral districts. But in four years (1906)
the number had increased from 53,668,347 to 83,687,000.
Cattle, within the same period, had risen in number
from 7,067,242 (1902) to 9,349,000 (1906). As might

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

have been anticipated, this vast destruction of productive
forces seriously affected the marriage-rate and birth-
rate. The number of births in 1901 was 102,945. It
remained ahnost stationary in 1902 at 102,776. But in
1903, at the chmax of the drought, the births fell to
98,443. The good season of 1903-4 caused an immediate
increase to 104,113, which in 1906 became 107,890. The
number of marriages also fell from 27,926 in 1902 to
25,977 in 1903. During 1906 there were 30,410 mar-
riages. In considering these figures, it must be remembered
that this drought, though more extensive than any other
in Australian history, was, none the less, like all others,
partial and of varying intensity. Much, also, is being done
to mitigate drought by the use of ensilage, as a substitute
for green fodder ; and the Government of the State of
Victoria is making hberal advances to settlers for the erec-
tion of silos. Since the great drought of 1903, pasturage has
been too abundant to make resort to ensilage necessary.
The conservation of water is another obvious method of
fighting drought, but is not always effective, because
grass sometimes fails before the tanks dry up. The use
of ensilage in combination with water conservation wiU
overcome this difl&culty. Finally, squatters have at last
learnt the danger of over-stocking, and that a run, which
will carry a sheep to three acres in good seasons, will not
carry one to twenty acres in a drought. For all these
reasons there is good ground for believing that precau-
tions can be taken against the worst dangers of a drought,
and that the suffering and loss from this cause will be less
in the future.

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CHAPTER II

THE PEOPLE

The Over-sea Briton — ^The Changed Skies — Characteristics —
City Life — ^Housing — ^living — ^Amusements — ^Horse-racing —
Other Sports — ^An Easy Life.

The Englishman who lives in England, rarely understands
the Englishman who lives beneath the Southern
Cross ; and the latter, as a rule, is equally uncompre-
hending of the former. It follows that the Briton's
first visit to the Commonwealth is generally a series of
surprises and bewilderments. The people whom he
meets are at once the same as and different from those
whom he knew " at home ; " and their very hkeness
provokes a sense of irritation at the points of difference.
Their best qualities are in antagonism. The Briton's
reserve seems arrogance to the AustraUan, whose hearty,
open manner becomes, — ^in excess, — ^perilously near to
youthful self-assertiveness.

But the difference between the two peoples is not only
one of temperament, but also of standpoint. The
Briton looks upon Australia as one of " the Colonies," —
with all the suggestion of dependence and inferiority
which the term " colony " implies, — while the young
Australian knows it to be a growing nation and boasts
accordingly. Their ideas, in consequence, move on
different planes ; and, while each uses the same words,
they speak in different languages. The Englishman forgets
that the over-sea Briton is no longer the exiled Briton of
romance, who pines for home and observes all British
customs with a gentle melancholy, but is developing an
entirely different type, is absorbed in new interests, and
rapidly becoming conscious of a changed and larger
destiny. The Australian, repelled by an unsympathetic
manner, never guesses that with the suspicion of patronage

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

which marks a Briton's attitude towards ** Colonials,"
is mingled a deep-seated pride in their achievements
and a genuine desire for cordial relations. There is
thus a shy ofiensiveness on either side, which nodght easily
become the precursor of family quarrels. Neither wishes
to harm the other ; but the one is unconscious of giving
offence while the other is watchful for grievances. This
latent antagonism is inevitable in an age of transition,
because the Colonial idea is too old to the Briton, and
the national idea too new to the AustraUan for either
easily to understand the other. For example, the ablest
and most influential paper in the Commonwealth — The
Sydney BuUeUn — ^habitually caricatures John Bull as a
Jewish pawnbroker, and mocks at British ways, as though
they were a sign of treason towards Australia. Yet
how many home-sta}ang Britons have a juster view of the
Australian ? They admit his powers as a cricketer, a
horseman and an athlete ; but they will hardly concede
that he has any serious purpose in his life, save money-
getting, and they harp upon his want of manners and
his boastfulness. It is true that manners and culture
are not the natural product of a young country; but
there is as much of either in Australia as in any English
provincial town, — ^to which, and not to a metropolis,
Australia ought to be compared. Nor can anyone,
who witnessed the great contest for Australian Union
between 1896 and 1900, deny that Australians can be
inspired by and pursue a great ideal, at least as readily
and tenaciously as Enghshmen. " One people, one
destiny," "A continent for a people, a people for a
continent," are cries which appealed to the Australian's
dominant idea of Nationalism more than to his pocket.

The Changed Skies

Perhaps the root of the latent antagonism which

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"YOUNG AUSTRALIA"

undoubtedly exists between the home and the over-sea
Briton, is the change which has been effected in the former
by his new environment. The creature of habit and
tradition is changed by emigration into a new being,
who finds nothing as it was at home and has ever to be
rdjnng on his own resources in unexpected emergencies.
No social usages shelter him from competition, but
every man has an equal chance in the race of life. He
who in England used to run between strings, in order
not to jostle or be jostled, finds himself suddenly engaged
in contests where everyone plays to win, and not for the
mere pleasure of the game. The change has not been
for the better in all points. Something has been lost,
in the process, of that dignity and reserve, which comes
of conscious strength, and has been replaced by the
assertiveness of youth. The Australian boy who declared
in London that the Presbyterian Church at BaUarat was
finer than Westminster Abbey, is not entirely an imag-
inary t)^, and the same confident ignorance finds an
only too easy expression in the press and on the platform.
These, however, are the faults of self-conscious youth,
when sh}mess apes audacity, and they weigh hght in
the balance against the msuiUer virtues of comradeship,
— ^which is the special virtue of Australians,— courage,
hopefulness and honesty. In essentials, indeed, the
AustraUan has well preserved the "ancient and inbred
integrity " of the race from which he sprang. What,
then, are the distinctive characteristics of the Australian
people ?

Characteristics

It is as difficultto describe, as to " draw an indictment "
against a whole people, because classes merge so imper-
ceptibly one into another, that a description of any one
is as far from reaUty as an average, and tends to carica-
ture. The best dass, too, — that, namely, of men and

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

women of culture, intelligence and manners, — ^belongs
to no country, but is recognised in all, by the same
characteristics. To say that this class is less numerous
in Australia than in Europe, is merely to afl&rm that
Australia is a young country which cannot yet make
use of a leisured class ; while the graces of Uf e seldom sit
easily upon men who are engaged in a perpetual struggle
with the forces of physical nature.

The same influences of youth and climate, which a£Eect
the standard of manners in a new country, necessarily
affect also its intellectual standard. This is high in
Australia as a standard for the average man, — ^higher,
perhaps, in this respect than in any other country
except France, — ^but it is not in any walk of life the
highest attainable. Only great capitals, like London
or Paris, where criticism is impersonal, can attract the
really best in Art, Letters, Science, or the professions ;
and Australia, as has been said, is more provincial than
metropolitan. ThuB, while AustraUa is a good place to
be young in, whilst the stimulus of struggle lasts, a man
who has arrived must resolutely test himself by outside
standards, if he would not stagnate. In Literature,
Art, Medicine, Law and every other pursuit, men are
to be foimd in Australia who, under the same favourable
conditions, would hold their own individually in any
country; but they are not representative and their
isolation tends to make them over-confident and narrow.
On the other" hand, intellectual isolation encourages an
originality of thought, and freedom of expression, which
" clears the mind of cant " and often directs enquiry
into new fields. The Brennan torpedo and the Wolseley
sheep-shearing machine were both Australian inventions ;
and the locus classicus for the treatment of plague
in a white conununity is the Report of Dr. Ashburton
Thompson on the outbreak at Sydney in 1901. But in
spite of these instances to the contrary — ^and many others

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THE TOWNSMAN

might be named — ^there is still a tendency for the brilliant
youth in any walk of life to seek his opening in the larger
world of London, and for the man who has made money,
to spend it in the lands where pleasure is life's business.
Every development of the field of Australian industry,
and every impube to the spirit of Australian nationality,
tend to check these tendencies to absenteeism and hasten
the day of the Conmionwealth's maturity. In the mean-
time she is depending for her growth and influence not
so much upon the " intellectuals,'* who are few in any
country, and often pedants, or on the rich, who are
seldom patriotic, but on the himibler folk who do their
duty without self-questioning, and by their efforts move
the world. And of these we must distinguish between
dwellers in cities and those who Uve in the bush ; for
nowhere is the essential difference between "urbanus'*
and '* paganus " greater than in Australia.

City Life

City life is much the same in every British community.
The climate may make changes in externals ; but it
alters national habits very slowly. Even in the matter
of clothing, all classes in Australian cities follow English
fashions. The merchant goes to business, in the heat
of summer, in the coat and hat which were de rigueur
in the City of London ; and the artisan spurns the clean
duck overall of the French ouvrier and sweats in cloth
or moleskin. Nevertheless the wide distances of the
Australian continent are developing different t3rpes,
which, although they are not yet sufficiently distinctive
to admit of precise description, are easily recognised.
Speaking very roughly, and with the qualification that
in every city the number of those who depart from the
type is probably greater than those who conform to it,
one would acclaim the husthng man of business, a mixture
of Scotch shrewdness and Yankee push, instantly as

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

from Melbourne. The easy-going sun-loving philosopher,
who does his work without fuss or show and tries to get
the most from life, would hail from Sydney, the

City of laughing loveliness. Sun-girdled Queen

Crowned with imperial morning, bejewelled with joy,

Raimented soft like a bride, in virginal sheen.
Veiled in luminous mist, blushing maidenly-coy

In shyly opening dawntide of youthful-sweet beauty : —
Earth, and Air, and the Heavens, and wondering Ocean salute
thee.

So she is described by Professor Marshall-Hall in his
" Hymn to Sydney."

The South Australian is of the more solid type, who
sits contentedly beneath his vine and fig-tree, and rears
children to overspread the earth. Western Australia
has not yet emerged into a separate individuality. Its
native-bom population is more English in its ways and
thought than any in Australia, — British Columbia and
New Zealand testify that this is always so in the extremi-
ties of the Empire,^but every State and nationality
mix on the goldfields, and have not yet fused into a
distinct amalgam. The North West is the land of the
pearl-fisher, and the big-boned cattle-king ; it is a land
where adventure and romance still linger, and whose
secrets are unrevealed. The most independent, self-
reliant and courageous of Australians is the Queenslander,
who fights Nature jesting, because he knows that in a
country of such wealth the tide must one day turn. He
is the owner of wide areas, who faces the buffets of
fortune without repining, and believes in his star and in
his State, with a confidence which nothing shatters.

Housing

Living is extremely dean and comfortable in all the
Australian capital^. Even the humblest cottages contain
bathrooms, which are alwa}^ equipped with a shower-
bath and generally with hot as well as cold water. All

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FOOD AND HOUSING

houses also, except those in the few slums — ^for over-
crowding and bad sanitation are evil legacies from former
days both in Sydney and Melbourne — ^have a veranda,
or, if of two stories, a balcony. Coppers for washing
clothes and a drying yard are considered essentials even
in the poorest homes ; while, except within the boundaries
of the dty proper, every house has ground for a garden.
Owing to the cheap fares upon the State-owned tramways
and railways, workmen, except those who are engaged in
callings connected with shipping, find it easy to reside
in the suburbs. Tenement houses are unknown in
Australia, where English exclusiveness demands that
even the poorest family should have its separate home.
Rents vary from eight shillings to twelve and sixpence
per week, according to the distance from town and the
locality. For these prices three-roomed cottages, with
kitchen, bathroom, laundry, and yard can be had, and,
though they seem high by comparison with English rents,
they are reasonable enough in a country where seven
shillings a day is the minimum wage.

It is probably true that, in spite of,— or perhaps in
consequence of — ^the higher wages, the cost of Uving is
not less than in England ; but the conditions of life are
pleasanter and the number who enjoy these is greater.
In ordinary seasons beef costs from sixpence and mutton
from fourpence per lb., while those who do their own
marketing pay even less. Fruit, which is more largely
eaten in Australia, can be had for very little. Grapes,
peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, and pears, of the
best quality, do not cost more, in the season, than fron>
threepence to fourpence a pound; while the wine-
flavoured passion fruit, — ^most luscious of all fruits, —
will grow without cultivation in any garden north of
Sydney. Fish, which ought to be a staple article of diet,
is plentiful but dear, owing to a bad system of distribu-
tion, and tinned salmon is too often used as a substitute.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Vegetables, hawked by Chinamen, can be had in great
variety ; but the Australian housewife has not learnt
to understand their value, and knows nothing of the
better kinds, such as sweet capsicums, or egg-fruit
(aubergine). Even the tomato, which might redeem
any dish, is generally, as in America, made into sauce.

Living

The Australian "cuisine" is, indeed, the English at
its very worst, because the climate is entirely unsuited
to what Dr. Johnson called the " ill-killed, ill-kept,
and ill-dressed meats," which, roast, grilled or boiled,
are the stand-by of every meal. Poultry is served as a
change ; but light dishes with rice or macaroni, omelettes,
or curries with fresh seasoning, are rarely seen. The
soup (if any), will probably be tinned ; — ^for the economy
of the Frenchwoman's "stock-pot" is not yet recog-
nised. The heavy food is washed down with strong tea ;
and d3^pepsia, in consequence, has made Australia the
happiest of hunting grounds for the medical quack.
Tea is the national drink throughout Australia and is
much cheaper than in England. The teaching of cooking
in the public schools has been a step in the right direction,
and there is no lack of good cuisines in the better hotels
and restaurants of Sydney and Melbourne. The working
man, however, in other respects so eager for equaUty, —
is still content with the unwholesome English food,
although children would be healthier, household labours
lighter and public houses emptier, if a simple system of
cooking suited to the conditions of the coimtry were
generally adopted. Perhaps the cheap restaurants
stand in the way of a change by offering for sixpence
a substantial mead of meat, vegetables and pudding.

In his beverages, as in his food, the Australian remains
an Englishman — ^that is to say he drinks tea, beer and
whiskey, when he should drink cofiee and wine. The use

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DRESS AND FASHION

of wine is becoming more general, now that the removal
of State tariffs has allowed the lighter wines of South
Australia and Victoria to be sent without restriction
throughout the Commonwealth ; but wine is not yet
given in at meals in restaurants or refreshment rooms,
as it is in the wine-produdng countries of Europe.
Coffee, which, if European experience be a guide, is a
better beverage than tea for a hot climate, is seldom made
to perfection in AustraUa.

Custom demands of the Australian woman that she
shall dress well, and all wearing apparel is expensive.
Fortunately most AustraUan girls are clever needle-
women, and the light materials, which suit the dimate,
lend themselves to simple and tasteful attire. Austra-
Uans, accustomed to the bright colours and pretty
dresses of their countrywomen, are always struck by the
dowdiness of an English crowd. Certainly Australian
women have the American knack of "putting their
clothes on well; " and their tendency is rather to over
than imder-dress. On a Saturday morning in Sydney
or Melbourne, a smart, well-dressed crowd of both sexes,
may be seen strolling along the principal street. This is
called " doing the block," and is a regular meeting-place
for those who wish to meet their friends, to change their
library books, or to talk over the latest ball at the eleven
o'clock "Morning Tea," so popular in Australia. It is
always daintily served at any of the numerous prettily
decorated tea rooms, and is much appreciated by English
visitors. The dresses worn on these occasions may seem
more suited to a garden-party than to a morning saunter
round the shops, but even when the colours are too bright
and the materials too rich, much can be forgiven where
the effect is so good.

Amusements

One expense, which figures in every Australian budget,

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

is the item of Amiisements, which form a very distinctive
feature of Australian Ufe. Nothing is a surer test
of national character. Australian amusements, as
might have been expected, are chiefly in t^e open air ;
and the home, in consequence, pla}^ a less part in the
formation of character than in a coimtry where, owing
to the climate, fire-side games are the chief recreation
of a family. Picnics are the dehght of both old and
young, picnics on the water, picnics by rail, picnics on
horseback, — ^it is always a picnic which celebrates a
festival — and festivals are numerous in Australia, where
Ministries are always ready to proclaim a public holiday
on pressure by the local Member.^ Sunda)^, too, are
fUe days along the eastern coast, when the harbours
are white with sails and camp-fires smoke in every cove.
The picnickers have possibly attended an early service
in church or chapel, but they are not, on that accoimt,
afiiicted by any scruples against pleasure on Sunday.
In Melbourne, where the Scotch element prevails, Sunday
is still a day of gloom. But water — as London has
learnt from the Thames — ^is always a solvent of Sabbatar-
ianism, and Sydney, thanks to her harbour, has never
suffered from the dour Scotch Sabbath. And yet
it does not appear to be a less religious city than its
southern rival.

Horse Racing

But not all AustraUans Uve near the sea ; and
unquestionably the chief amusement of Australia is
horse-radng. It has been said that the first care of the
surveyor of an Australian town-site is to mark out the
cemetery ; the second to plan a race-course. Certainly
in no other country is racing so popular, or of such
absorbing interest. This is partly due to the influence of

^ In one bush town in New South Wales a half-holiday was
declared to celebrate the remarkable occasion of a fall of snow.

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THE RACE COURSE

fashion, and partly to the gambling spirit of the Australian
people. Fa^on dictates that twice a year, in spring
and autumn, Australian women shall display their
dresses on a metropolitan race-course, and betting
draws the crowds, for whose comfort Australian courses
are specially prepared. Thousands, too, who never
attend a race-meeting, follow the doings of a horse with
unwholesome interest; for the large prizes offered by
the "Consultation Sweeps," — ^which have been as high
as ;feO,000 and vary from £5,000 to 3^20,000,— have
infected all classes in Australia with the gambling disease.
A " Consultation " is a lottery upon the result of a horse-
race, which depends for its success upon the popular
confidence in the honesty of its promoter. The price
of a ticket varies from five shillings to one pound^ and
ten per cent, of the subscriptions are retained by the
promoter. The balance is divided in money between
those who have drawn a " starter '* and those who draw
the first three winners. Drawers of a starting horse
generally get a fixed stun, which may be as high as ^£100.
The winners' receipts may depend on whether the Con-
sultation "filled," i.e.^ whether the subscriptions were
sufficient to allow the advertised prizes to be given. It
is hardly possible to over-estimate the noischief of these
"Consultations." Viewed as a mere waste of money
they, and the betting system which they encourage,
divert a sum of at least forty million poimds from the
channels of productive industry, while the moral injury
which they inflict is hardly calculable. The chance of
making fortunes without work is an irresistible tempta-
tion. Clerks and shop-girls will stint themselves of food
and office-boys pilfer the stamps to buy a ticket or a share
in one of these lotteries. The writer, after an experience of
twenty-five years at the Bar of New South Wales, and
having been Attorney-General — ^who in that State is
also the Grand Jury — ^for six years, does not hesitate to

2»

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

affirm that nine-tenths of the embezzlements and
forgeries and breaches of trust, which come before the
Australian courts, are directly due to horse-radng and
its concomitants.^ The Conunonwealth has done its
best to put down the evil, by refusing to carry postal
matter in connection with a "sweep." Tasmania,
however, in the exercise of her State rights and in
defiance of the Conmionwealth, has estabUshed the
head-quarters of this iniquity in Hobart imder Govern-
ment sanction, and thus draws a considerable revenue
from the national vice.

The infatuation of Australians for gambling upon
horses is the more remarkable, because no one for a
moment pretends that racing in Australia is an honest
sport. Owners frankly declare that they run horses
for the money they can make, without regard to the
pubUc ; and even, when an owner races out of sports-
manship, the trainer or the jockey may go " crooked."
And, as one Australian writer euphemistically puts it,
"incidents take place at some of the miaor meetings
that would not for one moment be tolerated by the
English Jockey Qub.*

Praise, however, must be given to the arrangements
on the principal Australian courses, for the comfort and
convenience of the pubUc. Prices of admission are low,
and entitle the visitor to many privileges. Terraced hills
give every spectator an unimpeded view, and the
stands contain all the conveniences of a good dub.
Friends from all parts of Australia meet each other on
" the Lawn " at Flemington on the day of the Melbourne
Cup, — ^which is also the sodal carnival of the Australian

^ Mr. Frank Bullen, in his " Advance Australia/' calls the
"abandonment of the Australians to sport/' a " paralysing mania,
which pervades every class, and takes precedence of business, of
religion, of morality, and is responsible for a host of minor evils/'

• " Australian Life in Town and Country," by E. C. Buley.

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M
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TV j

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CRICKET

world. No pains are spared to beautify the scene. The
gardens are gay with flowers, trellised arbours give a
welcome shade to many luncheon parties, and in the
stand there is even a corps of ladies' maids, engaged
by the Club, to provide all the smaller requisites of the
female toilette free of charge. Equal attention is paid
to the facilities for following a race. The notice boards
are visible from every comer, the whole course is always
in view, and the horses carry their respective numbers
in large figures on the saddle-doth. It is not surprising
that as many as 120,000 persons assemble' on the
course on Cup-Day. Indeed, many people who would
not attend any other race meeting find their way to
Flemington on that occasion.

In South Australia and Tasmania an attempt has
been made to stop betting by the legislation of the
" totalisator." This has the good effect of reducing the
temptation to crooked running ; but, until it is uni-
versally adopted and the sweeps effectually put down,
it will not touch the heart of the evil.

Other Sports

Cricket, of course, is, above all others, the Australian
game, as every reader of an English paper knows. The
matches are watched with interest by crowds, and the
newspapers have devised the ingenious plan of recording
each run and incident of the game by mechanical devices
on notice boards outside their of&ces. On the occasion
of an international or inter-state match the streets will
be blocked for hoiu^ by crowds, who by these means
follow and criticise every feature of the game.
An3^thing that breaks the isolation of Australia is
to her advantage, and therefore her cricketers must be
counted among those who have rendered her essential
service.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

In Victoria and South Australia a peculiar game of
football, which is declared by its players to be superior
to all other forms of the game, but which an outsider
seldom appreciates, arouses enormous enthusiasm and is
extremely popular. In New South Wales and Queensland
the game is Rugby.

The sports of the wealthier classes are golf, yachting
and motoring, in the practice of which there is nothing
distinctively Australian. Small-boat sailing in Sydney
Harbour does, however, require special notice. Probably
nowhere in the world are Uttle boats more skilfully
handled. Fourteen foot dinghies carry so big a sail,
that the boat capsizes from the mere weight of the mast,
if the crew get out. Yet these httle boats, each with a
centre-board, and all the canvas of a racing yacht, will
carry a cre>V of six in lumpy water. The crew, of coiu^e,
act as live ballast, and lean out against the wind to keep
the boat afloat. Nothing prettier than a regatta of
these midgets could be imagined. As a rule they are
owned and raced by bo]^ or men in partnership, and
this division of expense opens the sport to the poorest.
The larger boats on the same model, and run on the
same hues, go up to twenty-seven feet and are half -decked.
Above this size come the half-raters and others which are
the pastime of a wealthier class.

Game is not abundant in Austraha, though the turkey
bustard of the plains, the wonga pigeon, and the wild
duck are highly prized for eating. In some seasons
there is an abundance of quail, and flight shooting can
be had in summer on the Gippsland lakes ; but, taken
as a whole, the continent offers Uttle attraction to the
sportsman.

All classes, rich and poor, share in the amusement of
the theatre, to which the highest price of admission is only
five shillings. Australians, indeed, are insatiable theatre-
goers, and they have seen so many excellent visiting

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THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

companies that their taste is extremely good, and their
love for good music is well known.

An Easy Life

The above description of some of the more distinctive
features of urban life in Australia, though necessarily
brief and general, has been sufficient to explain and justify
the well-known sajmg that Australia is " The Paradise
of the Working Man," in respect at any rate of his social
conditions. Certainly no man who has to work for his
living, whatever his position in Ufe, works anywhere
under pleasanter conditions than in an Australian city ;
and the position of artisans in this respect is particularly
favourable. Of course men fail in Austraha, as they
fail everywhere, but the failures are fewer and more
deserved. Work is there for every hale man, but not
everyone has what, in the provincial speech of England,
is called "gumption," which is a quality essential to
success in a young country. Yet immigrants who — con-
trary to a popular beUef — ^are very welcome in Austraha,
could not try their fortune in a land of better promise.
Their material prospects are at once improved, and,
what is better, they can become masters of their own
future. For no man is hindered from advancement in
Australia by barriers of class distinctions. Commerce,
the professions and poUtics are an open field to all, and
there is Uterally no position in the Commonwealth, to
which a man of enterprise and character may not attain.
It has been truly said^ that " The AustraUan workman
fully appreciates these possibilities and the absence of
class distinction which they imply, and shows appre-
ciation by an independence of conduct which is very
noticeable. It cannot justly be said that this indepen-
dence is alhed to any discourtesy of bearing, but he knows

* " Australian life in Town and Country," by E. C. Buley,
p. 83.

3— <ai33)

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

his own value, and is also fully alive to the importance
of the poUtical power he wields."^

The attraction of Australia is equally great in other
walks of Ufe. In no other English-speaking country is
there less of the snobbery of dollar-worship. No one is
thought worse of for his want of means, provided that
his poverty does not affront the proprieties. Nowhere
else, indeed, does poverty less cut off the young people
of a family from social pleasures ; while economies are
not the dreary series of privations which they are apt
to be in an English town. The penny tram will take
a girl to Government House as safely as a hansom cab,
and almost as quickly. The necessaries of Ufe may be
dear to buy, but so much is thrown in for nothing that
young couples, who are brave enough to begin life on a
small income, do not command pity in Australia. And
it must be admitted that Australians are not a saving
people. To put by only in a policy of insurance and
save a minimum of cash for an emergency would seem

^ The omission of the formal signs of respectful greeting do
not imply intentional discourtesy. It is said, and possibly with
some degree of truth, that a young farmer, who from real soldierly
keenness had volunteered for the African War, passed the General
commanding his district without a salute, bo^ being in uniform.
It happened that the officer was a household word for his use of
vigorous language, an accomplishment in which the Australian
is an expert. He was also a first-rate soldier ; and therefore
doubly dear to the young Australian. The General's A.D.C.,
shocked at this breach of discipline, brought the offender to his
General with the following result : "Do you know who I am.
Sir ? "— " No," drawled the AustraUan. " Who are you ? "—
" Why, Sir, I am General Blank, conunanding this District I " —
" General Blank," exclaimed the boy, putting his hand promptly
to the salute, " My word. Sir, I've often heard of you. My name

is Corporal S.. of the Contingent. I am proud to

meet you. Sir," and he held out his hand. According to the
story the General took it, and made the Corporal his galloper,
with the happiest results. The failure of some British officers
to understand a bearing of this kind caused a few unpleasant-
nesses during the War. On the other hand, those leaders who
did understand these men, never had better foUowers.

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THE REMITTANCE MAN

to the thrifty Scotch or English housewife a threatening
of the workhouse. But the Austrahan Uves gaily in the
sunshine, puts by in insurance more than he can afford,
spends his income and gambles his savings on the race-
course or a mining venture. If he loses, he has no more
to spend ; but if, as often happens, he " makes a bit,"
his wife has more jewellery or he gives more dinners ;
while, if the " punch " be very good, he moves into a
larger house. It seems a careless, reckless hfe, but there
is some philosophy beneath it all, and the men who lead
it can face misfortune, when misfortune comes, as bravely
as most others.

Let no one, however, imagine that those who have
shown these same qualities in England are Ukely to
make good immigrants. Usually they are proof to the
contrary. For no place is more fatal than Australia
to the Enghsh ne*er-do-weel of decent birth. The very
virtues of the country aggravate his faults and weak-
nesses. He is wholly xmsuited to manual work, — the
only kind which he might obtain easily, — and after the
briefest of struggles becomes a loafer in the dty, where
he is the most despised of outcasts, Uving on remittances
from England — (hence the term " remittance man ") —
and useless in any capacity. The only salvation for men
who have " gone under " in Great Britain would be
the severance of all connection with their former hfe,
and the acceptance of emplo3mient in the bush, — and
this such men have neither the will-power to attempt
nor the courage to endure. Those who would see to what
depth of degradation English failures can reach in Aus-
tralia, should read the chapter in the "Wrecker " in which
Stevenson describes a night in the Sydney Domain.

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CHAPTER III

THE BUSH

A Country Life — Characteristics of Bush Life — Isolation — ^The
Sundowner — ^The Squatter — ^The Cattle-run — ^The Planter
—The Selector— The Country Towns.

" The experience of all mankind declares," says Froude,
in the opening chapter of " Oceana," " that a race of men,
sound in soul and limb, can be bred and reared only in the
exercise of plough and spade in the free air, with country
enjoyment and amusements, — ^never amidst foul drains
and smoke-blacks and the eternal clank of machinery."
Had Froude added "high skies and wide expanses"
to his hst of beneficial forces he would have named the
most potent influences in the development of the Austra-
lian type. City life does not give to character the same
sharp outlines as do the direct influence of soil and climate.
It is, therefore, to the country that we must look for the
true Australian, the result of a century of growth.

Certainly there is something enveloping and formative
in the conditions of bush life, which tends in a very short
period to make a distinctly Australian type. " Whether
the rural resident," says Sir Gilbert Parker,^ "is an
Englishman or an Australian by birth, by the time he
has Uved ten years in the country he becomes Australian,
as distinct from any other nationality. The Irishman
gains direction and industrial confidence ; the Scots-
man, adaptability and warmth ; the Englishman leaves
off his insularity and puts on elasticity ; and the
Australian is slowly evolved." «

* " Round the Compass in Australia/' by Gilbert Parker.
London : Hutchinson & Co., 1892. A revised edition of this
book is much to be desired.

' A jesting Australian saying is that " The Irishman owns
the land : the Scotchman has all the good billets : and the
Englishman does all the work."

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"A SPLENDID ENERGY"
Characteristics of Bush Life

Large-heartedness is the most marked characteristic
of the type. Men who watch the stars sparkUng in a
violet sky, and all day fight Nature face to face, are too
near to the essential facts of life to be mean-spirited.
Like the Arab or the sailor, the bushman is hospitable,
sincere and loyal ; but unlike these, he is also suspicious
and a little sceptical. Merit must be proved in his pre-
sence before he accepts it on anyone else's valuation ;
and yet he is shy rather than self-confident ; although he
often affects self-confidence to conceal sh3mess. Once,
however, let his trust be given and he knows no half-
measures in his appreciation and generosity. "Com-
radeskip " is his characteristic virtue : Mr. Biiley, indeed,
considers that the social code of the bush is sununed up
in the brief sentence of Mr. Henry Lawson : — " Drunk
or sober, mad or sane, good or bad, it isn't bush reUgion
to desert a mate in a hole." The occasions for sharing
comradeship are frequent enough in the Australian bush,
where droughts, floods, pests and other imexpected
troubles call for immediate action, and good seasons and
social gatherings bring together a whole neighbourhood
to share in friendly congratulations. The hospitality
of the bush is, of course, proverbial. Everybody is
hospitable in the heart of Australia ; it is only the nature
of the kindness which differs, according to the means of
those who proffer it. Energy is another marked feature
of the Australian character — "a splendid energy," Sir
Gilbert Parker calls it, " a faith in the possibilities of the
country : a persistency behind the pessimism that comes
with drought, flood, and mining and land booms." The
rest of the passage is equally happy. "Coupled with
this energy are self-confidence, freshness, aggressive
assertion, and generous warmth. Because these have
always been difficult questions to face : because

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THE COMMONWEALTH OP AUSTRALIA

development has come by leaps and boimds : and because
there have been struggles between dass and dass,
there has been produced an upstanding race of men,
irascible yet hospitable : strenuous and stalwart
yet not robustious : explosive yet not troublesome :
uncompromising yet generous : hardy, honest and true.
That is the true Australian. . . A curious restlessness
also marks his character, due to the vidssitudes of his
life and to the speculative spirit of the country. . . It is
to this t5T>e of restlessness, energy and daring that
Australians, by birth and adoption, converge.'*

Isolation

Bush Ufe makes a severe demand upon moral as well
as ph3^ical endurance. The struggle with fatigue is,
indeed, the least of the bushman's difl&culties, the greater
of which comes from his isolation. The mind moves
slowly when speech is infrequent ; and the tadtumity
of bushmen is proverbial. Some devdop a positive
incapacity to Uve in sodety, and pass their time entirely
alone. Such persons are called hatters in bush
parlance ; and the t3T>ical story of their characteristics
is told in many forms throughout Australia. Two
hatters, it is said, met on a worked out goldfield
where each intended to fossick. To save labour they
occupied the same tent, one working by day, the other
by night so that they might never be in company. One
morning hatter Bill asked hatter Jim, as he passed
him on his way back from work, " Who won the battle
of Sedan ? " and was told " The French." Leaving camp
next morning Bill said to Jim " Twasn't, 'twas the
Germans," and on his return found the tent empty, with
a note from Jim pinned to the fly, that he couldn't stay
in a camp " where there was so much . . . argument ! "
The temptation to a bushman to " break-out " becomes
sometimes irresistible ; and the steadiest workman,

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ON THE ROAD

maddened by his solitude, will at times ride to the nearest
shanty, hand his cheque to its keeper and drink himself
insensible. When he is permitted to recover consciousness
he may find himself a mile or two upon his homeward
track with a bottle of so-called whiskey, and a few
shillings of change from the cheque, whicli he has just
"knocked down." The native-bom seems better able
to endure the soUtude of the bush than the European.
Drunkenness is not a vice of the Australian bom.

The Sundowner

The large-hearted hospitality of the bush called into
existence a class of professional vagabonds, called " Sun-
downers," because they timed their arrival at a station
at sundown, when they knew it was too late to send them
further on the track, and that by the laws of the bush
they must be given " tucker " and a lodging. This class
is dying out before the advent of railways ; but until
recently they were in certain districts a serious tax upon
the hospitality of station-owners. These swagmen who
"humped Matilda" (t.^., carried their blue blanket)
and went upon the wallaby {i.e., on the road), were
seldom uninteUigent and often philosophers. They
accepted idleness as a divine command, and pursued their
object of avoiding work, if not always with success, yet
with imperturbable good humour. They were pro-
fessionals, who must not be confounded with the genuine
bush-worker who, on foot, bicycle or horseback, passes
from station to station seeking for a job, and whose needs
also must be suppUed if he run short of food. It speaks
well for the good relations which exist between people
in the bush that this unwritten law of hospitality is
seldom abused.

The Squatter

The squatter is at the apex of the social p3nra^d

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THE COMMONWEALTH OP AUSTRALIA

of the Australian bush. As a rule he lives on his run in
all seasons with his family about him, and so becomes a
centre of social activities. Some squatters Uve in the
cities and work their runs through managers, whose tie
with the district is naturally less dose ; while other runs
are in the occupation of Banks and Mortgage Companies
who only desire to sell at a profit and have no interest
in the (hstrict. The squatter who Uves on his run has
never been better described, if allowances be made for
differences between the country Ufe of to-day and that of
fifty years ago, than by Henry Kingsley in the fine
novel of *' Geoffrey Hamlyn," and the novels of Mrs.
Campbell Praed give vivid pictures of modem Ufe on
a station. The elegance and luxury of a station home-
stead is always a surprise to EngUsh visitors, who ought,
however, to remember that the English country gentle-
man has only changed his skies in coming to AustraUa.
Here is a vignette by Mr. Buley's pen, which no apology
is needed for reproducing : —

"The homestead is a substantial house of stone,
built after the fashion of a bungalow, with only one
storey, and a broad verandah running round three
sides of it. Grape vines and passion-flower shade the
verandah, and the front of the house looks over a
spacious garden and orchard, with a thick hedge of
quince trees. On the verandah are easy chairs and
lounges. . . . The windows run down to the floor;
the doorway is wide and inviting, and opens to a
spacious cool-tiled hall. On one side is the drawing-
room ... on the other a dining-room . . . behind
is a cheerful morning-room. Bedrooms cool and
airy, open on the wide verandah ... in a group of
detached buildings are the bachelors* quarters and
the schoolroom, which also serves as a concert-hall
and a chapel. One side of the verandah overlooks
a large lake of fresh water, formed by damming the

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Station life

course of one of the boundary streams. Flocks of
wild swan and ducks feed in it undisturbed, and even
shyer water-fowl, such as the ibis and peUcan, may
often be observed upon it. From this lake an ingen-
iously contrived windmill raises water to the level
of an elevated platform, on which, protected by a
roof of thick wooden shingles, are a number of iron
tanks. From this reservoir pipes conduct the water
throughout the house and garden. From the other
side of the house may be seen the wool-shed, a long
building of wood with a galvanised iron roof. . . A
ride round the run reveals signs of careful manage-
ment. Each paddock ^ contains its flocks of carefully
graded sheep : in one are wethers of a certain age
and in another ewes. The stud flock occupies a
domain of its own, and there is a special paddock for
the horses and another for the cows. On the flats
near the creek a heavy crop of the forage plant Alfalfa
is being grown under irrigation. It will presently
be cut and converted into ensilage as a precaution
against drought. ... A day's hard work in the
saddle ends with a refreshing shower bath and a
pleasant family dinner. Sometimes a neighbour drops
in, and after dinner the men smoke on the cool broad
verandah in the pleasant dusk. The wind sighs
through the big she-oaks, and from the belt of tall
gum-trees by the creeks comes the doleful note of
the mopoke. Great flying foxes flap silently down
to the peach trees in the orchard, and tiny bats
wheel and turn in the clear air, hawking the plentiful
insects. One by one the stars come out until the
violet sky blazes with them. Across the lake the
curlews are waiting, but in the drawing-room the
lamps are ht."

Attractive and true as this picture is, it is not
^ A paddock may be several square miles in area.
41

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

calculated to excite enthusiasm among Australians. Great
sheep-runs, such as the one described, aboimd not only
in the Darling district, which is appropriate to such uses,
but in the richer coastal and central districts, where the
land is suitable for cultivation. A sheep-run in such
places is a hindrance to national growth ; because it
gives employment to so Uttle labour. It is estimated
that on a well-managed station only one man is employed
for every 7,500 sheep ; and the carrying capacity of a
run is from one hundred thousand to a million sheep.
The occasional work of a station gives irregular employ-
ment for fencing, damming and the construction of wells
and tanks ; but this is generally let to contractors.
Shearing also employs large numbers. In earUer days
this occasional and periodic work helped the smaller
settlers near the run to earn money ; and this is still the
case to some extent. The present tendency, however,
is to do all bush work by contract. Even shearing
can be let out upon this S5rstem, owing to the variations
in climate, which permit a gang to begin their
operations in Queensland and follow the season southward.
This weakening of the personal relations which previously
existed in the bush between employer and employed,
is partly responsible for the growth of the Bush-Workers'
Union and its uncompromising attitude towards the
pastoralists. The remedy is to be found in closer
settlement and by the creation of small holdings.

The Cattle Runs

The squatter is a pastoralist who flourishes in the
south and west where natural grasses or salt bush are
favourable to sheep. Towards the north and west, and,
generally in the more imsettled districts '"cattle is
king,'' and cattle-raising takes the place of wool-growing.
Gradually, however, sheep are encroaching upon cattle,
and cattle-stations are pushed further back towards

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THE CATTLE MUSTER

the tablelands of the North West. The conditions of
life become then very hard. Population is very scattered,
and the cost of transport is too high to permit of many
luxuries. Two or three stockmen, aided by a score or
so of blacks, will do all the work of a station under the
superintendence of a manager, and hf e is one long round
of hardships and danger ; for the " looniness " of bullocks
is proverbial, and no one can account for the lunatic
impulses to which a mob of them is subject. The runs
are often five thousand square miles in extent and, of
course, not fenced. Mustering the cattle is therefore
alwaj^ an important and ever critical event upon a
cattle-station. Mr. Buley gives a spirited description
of the scene.

"First," he writes, "comes the driving of the
various mobs to the ' camp,' a work accompUshed
with as Uttle whip-cracking and flurry as possible,
for the object in view is to prevent the animals be-
coming excited or unmanageable. When the cattle are
all collected the work of ' cutting-out ' begins. The
cattle are packed together, some of them wild with
fear, and disturbing the others by their bellowing
and sidelong thrusting of the horns. Into the mob
rides the stockman, intent on separating from it
some particular animal he has picked out. The
well-trained horse forces his way through the cattle,
obedient to every touch of knee and rein. Soon he
has grasped the master's purpose, and begins to edge
the beast singled out towards the outside of the throng.
It is dangerous work, but man and horse have
confidence in each other and both are alert and
watchful."
After the cutting-out is done the mobs are sorted out
and coimted and the "dean skins" branded. Then,
if the seasons hold out hope of grass and water on the
travelling routes, the surplus stock will be put in charge

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

of some experienced drover for their three months'
journey to the seaboard market. This Ufe has great
attractions, but demands patience and iron nerve of all
who follow it ; for bullocks are the most unmanageable
beasts and are given to stampeding at night without
warning, to the imminent risk of man and horse. The
only hope of checking a stampede is to get ahead of the
mob by forcing through the press and turning it by the
lash of the stock-whip. The perils of such an attempt
are obvious, but they are part of a drover's r^;ular
task.

Transport in the arid interior is by camel team, which
has largely supplanted bullocks in the Never-Never country
and from mining districts of Western Australia. The
drivers are Afghans, and feuds between them and the
Australian teamster often break into open violence if they
venture into the outskirts of the more settled districts.
In the arid interior, however, they have become indis-
pensable, owing to the white man's inability at present
to understand camel nature. It may be that these alien
drivers will be displaced in time, but their ship of the
desert has come to stay.

The Planter

Along the Queensland coast the squatter is replaced
by the sugar-planter, who, until the Conmionwealth
compelled their deportation, worked his plantations by
indentured Polynesian labourers. The problem of his
economic position, which will be considered in the chapter
on the poUcy of a White Australia, is not yet solved ;
but at present his traditional state is one of prosperity
and the realisation of his gloomy forecasts is postponed.
He is the aristocrat of the North as the squatter is of the
South : — and is probably, as Sir Gilbert Parker calls him,
" the most forceful " of the Australians. Certainly he
is less conventional and lives in regard to dress, food,

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THE PIONEER

and buildings, in a sensible fashion according to the
dictates of a semi-tropical climate. The differences
between North and South in Australia threaten to
become as marked as in the United States, and will
always be considerable. The deportation of the Kanakas
and the rigid adherence to the White Australia policy,
while it may for a time retard the development of the
northern portion of the continent, has probably saved
AustraUa from a civil conflict, which, in its way, would
have been as destructive and perilous as the War of
Secession by the Confederate States.

The Selector

The term selector, which was first applied to those
who selected land in New South Wales under the Crown
Lands Act of 1861, is become a generic term for the small
settler, except in the State of Victoria, where the appro-
priate term of farmer is in general use. For the selector
outside of Victoria does not confine himself to farming,
but also keeps sheep or dairy cattle, and in the western
districts of New South Wales and Queensland is exclu-
sively a sheep-man, — ^proving thus the possibility of
making sheep pay on a small holding, which at one time
was denied. The selector is the classical t3^e of Austra-
lian literature; and his soUtude and disappointments
have been told and sung so often, that it becomes difiicult
to realise that in most parts of the continent he is a
prosperous and contented man. In the West, it is true,
he has suffered hardships, which too often make the
existence of his wife and daughters a sombre tragedy.
For the sufferings of a pioneer's hf e fall more heavily upon
the women than the men. The man has the fierce joy
of his daily contests with Nature ; the woman, alone
in the make-shift home of logs and iron, strives silently,
but with ever lessening confidence, to maintain the
accustomed seemlinesses of domestic Ufe. The struggle is

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

too often fruitless ; but the honour is to those who
persevere — ^and they are fotind in every district of
Australia, raising up brave sons and daughters and
enduring patiently their share of toil. Such women are
the unnamed heroines of Australian history.

The selector prospers best upon the coastal districts
of New South Wales, which have recently become the
principal seat of the dairying industry. The use of
separators and the estabUshment of butter factories and
creameries has brought independence and even fortune
to many hundreds of men, who had no money fifteen years
ago. In the central districts of the same State will be
found many men who owe their position as large land-
owners to the selection first taken by their parent or
themselves under the Act of 1861. But as will be seen
in a later chapter, this Act did not do all that was expected
of it, and many selectors have been glad to sell their
holdings to the squatter, as soon as the legal term of
residence has been completed.

Selection in the western districts has not been a
success. It happened that the discovery that the western
plains were suitable for wheat-growing was made contem-
poraneously with the beginning of the Great Drought.
Many men were in consequence ruined, and much land
was thrown back upon the Crown. A few men with
capital pulled through and it now seems probable, after
the experience of the last few years, that men who work
themselves and carry on mixed farming ,will yet be able
to make a Uving in the West, even on so small an area
as 2,560 acres. Selection in Queensland is usually in
large areas for grazing purposes.

The Country Town

The old saying : " God made the coimtry : man made
the town," has been amended by the cynical addition
"and the devil made the country town." It is there

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THE COUNTRY POLICEMEN

that in Australia bush and city meet. They are built
on the same type ; straight, uiUovely streets, Uned with
pepper trees, and fronting wooden houses with galvanised
iron roofs. There are always two and generally four
public-houses at each comer. A lock-up, two Churches,
a few banks and possibly a convent malce up the rest of
the town. All who can, Uve a few miles out, and occupy
themselves with some coimtry pursuit, visiting the
town as seldom as possible. The selector comes for his
mail on Saturday nights and the squatter drives in to
Petty Sessions. When the Courts come round, either the
District or Supreme, the Uttle place becomes alive. At
other times, unless someone happens to " go on the spree,**
the place is quiet and dull. Yet in all these towns
there live one or two men who freely give themselves
up to its advancement. Naturally this breeds local
jealousies and feuds ; but these are not serious, and self-
sacrifice and patriotism meet with their reward in pubUc
esteem. Perhaps the best and most useful work in
Australia is now being done in these unpromising sur-
roundings. Where there is a Municipal or District
Council, opportunity is offered for exercising wider influ-
ence, but it is questionable if this is more serviceable or
better regarded than the unofficial influence of the leading
citizen in a country town. The temptations to youth
in such places are very great ; and banks and other
institutions seldom leave unmarried clerks exposed to
them for any lengthened period.

Two classes who figure largely in country life, both in
towns and in the bush, are the poUceman and the civil
servant. The poUceman in the back-blocks is not only
the emblem of law and authority, but he generally holds
all the Government offices of the district, except that of
Pohce Magistrate. He may be Registrar of Births,
Deaths and Marriages, Clerk of Petty Sessions, Crown
Lands Agent, Deputy Warden of the Mines Court, Inspector

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

of Weights and Measures, Forest Ranger, and have
thrown upon him, in addition, every other unconsidered
trifle of Government service. If, as is frequently the
case, he is a man of good breeding, tact and education,
he becomes a Deus ex machina to all the neighbourhood.
Above him in rank, but further removed from the people
is the Inspector of Police, who with the Police Magistrate,
the Chairman of the Land Board, and the head of the
District Land Office, represents to the coimty elector the
majesty of the State Government. Sir Gilbert Parker
gives the following life-hke picture of an Australian
coimtry town : — ^

"They [the coimtry towns] are the centres of a
peculiar life — of the variations in the Australian
t5rpe. The squatter drives in from his station to
attend a meeting of the Local Land Board, or to
post the editor of the local newspaper on a new phase
of the land, or rabbit, question ; the homestead
lessee, with more modest turn-out, rattles in (all
people in the back-blocks drive fast) for his month's
stock of tea, sugar, and tobacco ; — ^the great neces-
sities of the far west ; the selector comes swinging
down the red-sand streets, where even the gum-
tree finds no home, and the imported pepper-tree
struggles for life, to seek some favour of the agents
of a far-off Government ; the shearer, on a " brombie *'
which he has bought for a couple of poimds, shuffles
up to the pubUc to knock down his cheque ; the
sundowner, with his swag on his back, posts through
to the nearest station ; the stock-rider, " sitting
loosely in the saddle all the while," gallops in for a
change as he travels his cattle to the south ; a daughter
of the plains rides swiftly to the post-office for the
weekly mail ; a mounted policeman in his blue coat
and grey breeches, spurred and armed, becomes a
^ " Round the Compass in Australia/' p. 94.

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CONVIVIAL CUSTOMS

welcome guest at the chief hotel ; the local justices
of the peace meet in conclave, full of desire for ready
justice, and maybe innocent of law ; the Inspector of
Tanks meets his enemy, the Superintendent of Roads,
and they " shout " for each other, while they breathe
out violent criticism on their separate departments ;
and the Mayor, who seldom fails in accepting mag-
nanimously the fealty parties, conspires with all as
to what public man shall be the victim of the next
banquet."

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CHAPTER IV

POLITICS AND THE WORKING MAN

The Aim of Australian Democracy — ^The Paradise of the Working
Man — ^A Contrast of Method — ^Australian Socialism — Social
Progress v. Material Advance — ^A Policy not a Philosophy.

To understand Australia, it is necessary to remember that
it is the country of the man who works, and not of the
man of leisure. Luxury is rare, because it is difficult to
accumulate a large fortune and more difficult to spend it,
but capacity of any sort is assured of a competence.
There is thus a pleasant equahty of condition, which
neither excites envy nor depresses ambition. All work,
too, is adjusted to the necessities of a more genial climate ;
so that the hours are shorter and the pressure of com-
petition less urgent than in older coimtries. At the same
time the wide horizons and clear skies give a larger outlook
upon life, and encourage the characteristic quahties of
freshness, sincerity, and confidence; while nowhere in
the world can a man who has to work for his hving, work
under pleasanter conditions than in Australia.

This, which is true of all classes, is so in a pre-eminent
degree of those who live by manual labour, who have
used their poUtical power to adjust industrial conditions,
with more or less elaboration, by means of legislation to
these fortunate circumstances. This fact explains the
saying, to which reference has been made above, that
" Australia is the Paradise of the Working Man." In
no coimtry in the world is poUtical power more widely
diffused, or more daring use made of Government action
as an instrument of social development. Every man
and woman in Austraha has a vote, and no tradition
limits its exercise to a selection between candidates of a
certain social rank. Consequently Members of ParUa-
ment are of the same class as the majority of voters and

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NATIVE DEMOCRACY

reflect both the opinions and the prejudices of their
constituents, so that their standpoint is always that of
the average citizen, who has no definite poUtical creed,
but who resents being patronised and is keenly alive to
any opportunity of bettering his condition by means of
le^slation. The dominant idea of the average voter is*
to make Austraha a better country to Uve in for men of
his own class, — ^for he has learnt by experience that men
of wealth and abihty are well able to look after them-
selves, — and, so far from mistrusting Governmental
action, he draws legislation into his service as a ready
and effective instrument of reform. This does not imply
any adherence on his part to a particular theory of the
functions of the State ; for the Austrahan is a voter and
not a philosopher, and his democracy is not so much a
reasoned creed as an instinct.

A Contrast of Methods

This predilection of AustraUans for action by the
State, is the more noteworthy because it is in striking
contrast with the inclination of opinion in the other
democracy of British origin which margins the Pacific.
Contrasts between Austraha and the United States will
be noticed frequently by an observer of the two countries.
This, perhaps, is one of the most inteUigible, because it
can be traced to a difference in the early methods of
government. The United States sprang from the town
meeting: Austraha from a personal government. The
early settlements in New England were, from the first,
self-governing communities : the settlement at Sydney
Cove was subject to the orders of a naval or mihtary
officer for thirty-eight years.* The Governor was an
earthly providence to the early Austrahan settlers, —
dispensing food, controlling industry, and fixing the rate

1 Another strange contrast between the two countries is that
Australia was first settled on the side most remote from England.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

of wages. Nor did the influx of free settiers materially
change the situation, because these spread themselves
over the vast area of waste land too quickly to acquire
that local sentiment which became instinctive in the
concentrated settlements on the Atlantic seaboard.
There came, indeed, to be a strong provincial jealousy
between the AustraUan Colonies, which has defied even
Federation ; but this was never incompatible with a
very wide exercise of the powers of government within
each Colony. Thus while the United States have de-
veloped an exaggerated localism and individuaUsm ; in no
part of the world has the doctrine of Laissez-Faire fewer
adherents than in Austraha. Even Freetraders reject
the doctrine as applied to domestic poUtics ; and the
" Administrative Nihilism " (to use Professor Huxley's
phrase), which would confine the action of Government
to preserving order, always seemed treason to busy
settlers, who depended upon the state to overcome many
of the physical obstacles to settlement, and to provide
by means of railways, roads, tanks, etc., those conveni-
ences of civiUsation, which, in such a country as Australia,
individuals could not obtain imaided. Thus Australian
Governments have, for many years, constructed and
owned railways, tramways and ferry boats ; done their
own printing ; provided hospitals and parks ; subsidised
agricultural shows, and, generally, endeavoured to
improve the means of conmiunication and transport,
and develop the country.

Governments now, in addition, make clothes for the
police and mihtary ; maintain agricultural farms ; own
and let the use of batteries for crushing ore ; own and
let out bulls and staUions ; supply seed wheat ; sell
frozen meat and dairy produce ; export wines ; send
commercial agents to England and the East ; undertake
the storage and grading of meat and butter for export.
They are also expected to test new processes of

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STATE AID

production, and supply, free of charge, information as to
the latest agricultural and industrial experiments in other
countries. Indeed, a settler could hardly get greater
assistance than every Australian state is now expected
to furnish. These later extensions of State activity
have rather been due to the widening of the field for
work, than to the influence of any political party ; and
are acquiesced in by all parties, because Australia was
familiarised from its earliest days with the frequent
exercise by the State of its organised power, in order to
overcome the critical difficulties of colonisation. ^

Australian Socialism

Yet, with all this extension of State activities, there is
less socialist legislation in Australia than in England.
Australian leg^ation is advanced only when the
small size of the community and the sparseness of its
population, necessitates that being done by legislation
which, in England, is done by economic compulsion.
For example, whereas in England the chief standard
industries are regulated by joint committees of work-
men and employers, who determine all disputes, and are
able, through the concentration of the industry, to enforce
their rulings by the penalty of exclusion from the trade, ■
in Australia, where industries are small and scattered,
and men change easily from one employment to another,
the same result can only be achieved by the compulsion

^ It cannot be said that Australia affords any evidence in
support of the view that Government action saps individual
vigour. Australians are certainly most serious in the pursuit of
their individual interests. At the worst there is a certain lack of
public spirit and unwillingness to give personal service to the
State gratuitously. But this is characteristic of any coimtry
where wealth has no traditional responsibilities, and tiie great^
part of the community is necessarily occupied with its own
business.

* e.g.. The cotton and iron trades. See for illustrations Mr.
and Ikfo. Sidney Webb's " Industrial Democracy."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

of law through the awards of a tribunal. It is true that
the laws of labour in factories and shops are shorter than
in England, but in all other respects factory legislation is
less strict in AustraUa than in England. Again, there is no
poor law in Australia ; there is nothing like the advanced
municipal socialism of such cities as Glasgow ; the laws
for the protection of workmen are far less stringent than
in England ; there is no Workmen's Compensation Act,
and the doctrine of " conunon employment " is in full
force. In the supervision of food (except meat, milk
and butter for export), the sanitation (except quaran-
tine) and regulation of workmen's dwellings and new
streets and buildings, — ^Australia is decades behind the
legislation of Great Britain.

. Yet, according to the popular view, Australia is a
warning to the world by reason of its sociaUst legislation.
The explanation of this contrast between appearance
and reality is due to the fact that the Austrahan inclina-
tion to invoke State aid, which has its origin in the
history of the country, has found support of late years,
in a more or less de&ied poUtical creed, which has found
in Austraha its most vigorous and dear expression,
although it is not distinctively Australian, nor of
Australian origin.

Social Progress versus Material Advance

History from one point of view is only an ever-varjdng
adjustment between the rights of the individual and the
claims of society. One school of thought, holding that
society grows through an automatic harmonising of
many self-interests, would extend the sphere of individual
action to the widest limits compatible with the security
of life and property. Another school insists that the
conflict of self-interests does not produce harmony but
anarchy, and it accordingly demands restrictions upon
competition in order to preserve society. In the economic

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A UNIVERSAL FRANCHISE

field, disciples of the former school concentrate their
efforts on encouraging production, because they beUeve
that unrestricted Uberty to produce, secures, by some
decree of Providence, a just distribution of the products. ^
The other school (except its socialist section) does not
reject competition ; but demands that this shall be,
in fact, that competition of equal units, which EngUsh
economists postulate, but which has never existed in
any industrial society, except, possibly between whole-
sale dealers during the thirty years, 1840-70, when there
were no Trusts, and foreign states had not begun to
organise national industries by means of tariffs, subsidies,
and railways.

These views express the divergence of opinion between
capital and labour which exists to-day in many parts of
the world. In Australia it is widened and accentuated
by some distinctive social and historical conditions.

Austraha, as has been pointed out, is a country in which\
every man and woman has a vote. It has also been*
familiarised from its birth with an active and centralised
government. There is accordingly nothing novel or
repellent to an Australian in the idea that the organised
power of the State should be used to further his ideas of
social reform. On the other hand, a young coimtry
offers very great opportunities to private enterprise,
and tends to develop self-reliance and impatience of
control to a high degree. These quahties do not, how-
ever, counteract the tendency to rely upon the interfer-
ence of the State, because the vicissitudes of fortune in
a young country, and the haphazard way in which she
casts her favours, make the unsuccessful envious or
indifferent, while the men of enterprise, who mistrust
governments, are too much occupied with their own

^ See especially Bastiat : " Harmonies Economiques/' in which
the conclusions of the English school of individualist PoUtical
Economy are pressed to their logical conclusions.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

affairs to take an influential part in politics. Riches,
which imply responsibilities and in appearance reward
merit, are more Idndly regarded than the sudden acquisi-
tions of Australian speculators which give their possessor
very Uttle power over the opinions of others. A writer of
a most interesting series of articles on *^ Australian
Ideals/' which appeared in the Titnes of July and August,
1908,^ has very acutely pointed out that "alongside
the individual struggle after wealth there Mras growing
in Austraha from very early times a different spirit sown
by men who sought not so much wealth as ease and

competence This spirit was helped in its gradual

evolution from an instinctive and unconvinced sentiment
to the main article in a poUtical faith by the same circimi-
stances, pecuUar to Austraha, which gave such extensive
play to the material ambition of the abler part of the
community. If cloistral isolation and peace favoured
the concentration of many people upon the business of
developing the country and growing rich, it also left
their poorer and less enterprising brethren free to specu-
late upon possibihties of moderate affluence without
excessive toil, and of a widespread social well-l^ng,
inconceivable to countries less richly endowed, less thinly
peopled and less remote. Hidden in a comer of the
Pacific, and safeguarded by no effort of her own against
the interference of a jealous world, Austraha has developed
a quahty of introspection, a hermit-like pre-occupation
with her own dreams, which is now a leading attribute
of her pohtical ideas."

A Policy not a Philosophy

It is almost needless to say that, Austraha being a
British community, ideas are not built up into any
consistent theory. Thus, although the division of

^ See especially Article vi, the Times, Aug. 8, 1908. It is
hoped that more articles will be published in a permanent form.

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CLASS ANTAGONISM

sentiment in Australia does run parallel with the cleavage
in opinion which has been described above, the philosophy
of the matter is Uttle considered, and the conflicts are not
between rival schools of thought. Yet there is an essen-
tial difference between the ideals of each party, however
little this may be generally recognised, which perhaps will
be made clearer by a description of the extreme views of
either side. Again we may quote the writer of the articles
in the Times : " At the extreme of one category is a
large number of purely selfish individuals, who, regardless
of any interest but their own, are merely in a hurry to
grow rich. At the extreme of the other is a still larger
number of more or less predatory sociahsts, who demand
a share of the general prosperity out of all proportion to
their share of effort in creating it. * Going into one class,'
wrote Sir Henry Parkes in his * Fifty Years in the Making
of Austrahan History,' *you will find men carefully
dressed and sumptuously fed, who are very much dis-
posed to take a short cut to the object which they wish
to reach without reference to the f eeUngs, or the reasonable
wishes, or even the lawful privileges of their fellows.
Going among another dass, — almost the opposite — ^you
will see men savagely assail their fellows, because they
honestly strive in their own way, as free men, to earn the
means of subsistence for their families.' "

The aims of these two classes will always be essentially
antagonistic. The one will lay most stress on material
advance, the other will place social progress in the fore-
front of its programme. And as the pohtical power is
with the advocates of social progress, we shall expect to
find on the Austrahan Statute Book many protests
against unrestrained individuahsm, which would cause
the same estrangement between classes in AustraUa as
in older countries. And in this respect, also, AustraUa
offers another marked contrast to the United States.
Indeed, the motto of the Austrahan supporters of reform

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

might almost be " To make Australia everything America
is not," — so strenuous is the struggle against the rule of
wealth, and so deep-seated are the lessons which have
been taught to Australians by the recent disclosures of
social anarchy in the United Stages. Australia, it is
claimed, should be so governed that it shall provide
work at fair wages to a vast industrial population, afford
a fair day's wage to good workers, and provide such
comfortable and healthy conditions, that the workers may
take an interest in their work and have leisure for culture
and recreation. It is thought better that Australia
should have a large, well-educated, contented working
population, than that it should produce immense yields
of wool or cotton by means of servile or low-paid labour.
Such views plainly involve the " swallowing of economic
formulae " and suggest that ** freedom of contract,*'
" the law of supply and demand " and similar phrases
are mere capitaUstic shibboleths which mark an arrogant
contempt for social rights. Legislation is treated as a
means not only of removing inequalities, but of protecting
the weak against the strong.

The organised political exponent of these views is
the Austrahan Labour Party, which plays so large a part
in Australian affairs, and is credited with plasdng one so
much larger, that an accoimt of its formation and policy
cannot be omitted from an account of the Commonwealth,
and will form the subject of the next chapter.

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CHAPTER V

THE LABOUR PARTY

Thb Opportunity — ^The Maritime Strike — Labour Turns to
Politics — A Retrospect — ^The Caucus — ^The Programme —
What the Party Stands for — Comparison with the English
Labour Party.

The writer in the Times, to whom reference has been
made above, observes truly that " Labour has won its
present position in Australia not by virtue of its organisa-
tion, but by virtue of its aims. Other parties have not
failed to organise merely because they are too indolent
or too proud, but because they lacked the united impulse,
the common faith essential to give the method effect.
If Labour, when it first determined to orgamse as a
political force had not been able to call to its support
a deep-rooted sentiment of the Australian people, it could
not have risen to anything approaching its present
power." The binding influence of race and the Eight
Hours' Day gave Australian labourers an exceptional
solidarity and enabled the Labour Party (as the
same writer points out) "to become the spokesman of
the general wish for some ideal of social progress which
would control and rationalise the prevaihng doctrine
of wealth-accumulation at any price." Other causes
worked in the same direction. The want of sympathy
with the wealthy classes was changed into resentment and
hostility by the social war between squatter and selector,
which will be described in later chapters. The memories
of that struggle were green when Labour entered politics.
The time, too, was otherwise propitious.

The huge expenditiu-e of borrowed money on public
works and immigration from 1877-1890 had culminated
in an orgie of gambUng. Fortunes-— on paper — ^were
immense, and wealth had never seemed more flaunting

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

and unscrupulous. The crash which followed swept
away the people's savings and awoke a blind desire for
vengeance, which, when wages began to fall, found
expression in a general strike. Beginning with the laying
up of the Tasmanian Steamship Company's fleet, on
account of the dismissal from the Corinna of a Union
representative without assigned cause — ^for so do great
things spring from small beginnings — ^this strike spread
sympathetically through the ranks of organised labour.
It was met and defeated by an equally extensive
organisation of employers ; and Labour sought revenge
in politics.

This strike is a landmark of Australian history, and its
issues and conduct illustrate Australian methods and
ideas exceedingly well. It will not, therefore, be
inappropriate to relate the story. ^

The Maritime Strike

On August 12th, 1891, the President of the Shearers'
Union obtained a pledge from the maritime bodies of
workmen and the Trades and Labour Coimcil in Sydney,
that they would boycott all wool which had been shorn
by non-unionists. The issue thus raised was described
differently by the two opposing forces. To the employers
it was " freedom of contract ; " to the workmen " the
right to combine." The pastorahsts were alleged to be
ousting unionists from employment, and certainly they
were refusing to give any preference to unionist shearers,
so that all shearers were sharing in the higher wages and
improved conditions which the Union had obtained for
the class at considerable cost. At least ten per cent, of
the sheds in New South Wales were shearing under

^ An account of the strike is given in the " Official Report of
the Labour Defence Committee/' and in a supplementary
pamphlet by Mr. George Black, giving an account of the Labour
Market for 1891-1904.

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AN ORGANISED BATTLE

non-union rules, and some indiscreet employers in Mel-
bourne had publicly avowed their intention to break
Trade Unionism. The conviction was thus widespread
throughout Australia that action was necessary, because
Trade Unionism had been brought face to face with the
problem of existence. The affiliated societies con-
sequently entered upon the conflict with the object of
maintaining the Shearers' Union in what was believed to
be a fight for life.

Still the strike might have been confined within narrow
limits had not the Marine Officers' Association decided
on August 13th to take part through their Secretary in
the deliberations of the Trades and Labour Coimcil.
" From that moment," writes Mr. Black, " the basis of
the impending strike was indefinitely extended, and its
original pretext to some extent forgotten. . . It suddenly
assumed the aspect of a battle involving all classes of
maritime labour throughout Australia. The shipowners
demanded that the officers should sever their connection
with organised labour. They refused . . . and left their
ships as they came into port. The Seamen's Union
called upon its members to support the officers and the
strike began in all its vastness and complexity. There
was a general boycott of all non-imion wool and all ships
manned by non-imion officers. The conference which
had been called to discuss the strike, organised itself into
a Labour Defence Committee whose orders were implicitly
obeyed.'' Mr. Black gives a vivid description of the
Committee at work. " Up three ffights of stairs, the
approach to the last ffight guarded by toil-stained and
often weary outposts, in a large room at the door of
which stood another sentry, round a long, narrow table,
but half-covered by a piece of old cretonne, gathered
the members. For a fortnight or more the work was
physically as well as mentally exhausting. All day long,
and all night they sat : at first about a dozen, and more

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

as the days rolled by and other Labour bodies filed into
line. . . . Only the unions actually on strike were
represented here. Affiliated bodies sent their spokesmen
asking for instructions how to act. . . . Then there were
deputations from employers asking help to unload
perishable goods. . . . Intercolonial traffic had been
crippled but not brought to a standstill. A few ships
were running the blockades with provoking success ;
and the Defence Committees in the various Colonies
kept the wires busy day and night with comments on their
movements. * A steamer dropping up the Yarra. Any-
thing known about her ? ' The Chairman would ask
as he read the contents of the wire just to hand. * Yes,
as black as your hat,' would probably be the response.
* Then tell them to block her.* And an hour later the
leaders in Melbourne would be acting upon the advice."
Money poured in freely. Australian Trade Societies
contributed ;£28,662. The London Dockers, in gratitude
for the assistance sent to them from Australia in their
" strike for the 'tanner,' " sent £2,000, and other Societies
in England £2,060 more. Over £36,000 was distributed
in reUef in which 16,347 persons participated at different
times. The expenses of the Defence Committee
were £240 9s. 9d., of which the Secretary received
£6 6s., the twelve delegates 5s. each per day, and the
editor of the daily bulletin of the strike, £15. Men
gave themselves freely to the work, and there were no
scandals.

But devotion and loyalty could avail nothing against
popular hostility. Failure was inevitable when the
householder began to fear for his supplies, and the farmer
for his market. Special constables, aided by mounted
infantry from the country, forced passages for the
boycotted goods between the ships and the railway
termini ; and, as steamer after steamer loaded and dis-
charged, the ranks of the unionists thinned. The strike,

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A FRUITFUL DEFEAT

however, was conducted to the end without disorder ; * and
the leaders, wisely resisting the counsels of despair,
refused to order a general strike of all labour, and sur-
rendered unconditionally after a fortnight's struggle.
The shearers had already returned to their sheds, —
intimidated by the unequal laws which then made breach
of contract by a workman a criminal offence, — and the
claims of the officers had been conceded by the ship-
owners, provided they withdrew from the Trades and
Labour Council. Of what use, then, was it to prolong
the struggle ? Nothing remained but to bring its opera-
tions to an end. The general pubUc was relieved. It
S3mipathised with Labour ; but had not understood the
turn which the dispute had taken. Yet the refusal to
permit the Officers' Association to affiliate with the Trades
and Labour Council, — ^however necessary in the interests
of discipline, — really struck at the root of Trade Unionism,
which is freedom to combine ; and the boycott of non-
imion wool and ships, — ^however inconvenient to the
pubhc, — ^was the mildest method of protesting against
" black-leg " labour.

Extravagant claims were advanced by both sides.
The Trade Unionists were too few to assert their claim
at that time to the preferential employment, which may
now be conceded, under statute, by Industrial Arbitra-
tion Courts, and which was secured many years ago by
the organisation of both employers and employed in the
larger industries of the North of England. The em-
ployers in their demand for " freedom of contract " forgot
that real freedom to contract impUed a freedom to refuse
the contract offered, which was impossible to an individual
workman unsupported by a Trade Union, because, if he

^ There was some stone-throwing on one occasion at the
Circular Quay, which panic magnified into a riot. A Governor,
who was accustomed to the disorder of election nights in some
English towns, watched it undisturbed from the window of a
public office ; but it was a first experience of street turbulence
to Australians.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

stood alone, he must find work or starve. Trade Unions
are to workmen, what capital is to the employer, they
enable him to wait until the market for his labour rises.
Nor was it generally perceived that " free " or " black-leg "
labour (whichever epithet be preferred) menaced the
very existence of Trade Unionism as an industrial force.
Cheap labour depresses the standard of wages, which
Trade Unions are established to maintain, as inevitably
and for the same reason as, under Gresham's law, bad
money drives good money out of circulation. It is a
notable example of that aUardation of thought which will
be noticed later as characteristic of young countries, that
these trite considerations were hardly urged in public
except by men who had been trained in European ideas,
and that they were denounced as revolutionary by the
whole daily Press. ^ Barristers, whose existence as a
separate profession is secured by the strictest Trade
Union rules — ^who refuse to work with a " black-leg " and
call their overtime " refreshers," — ^were especially antag-
onistic to the other Unions. Sir Alfred Stephen, an
ex-Chief Justice, introduced a bill into the Legislative
Council, making strikes illegal under almost any circum-
stances and threatening strike leaders with smnmary im-
prisonment at the hands of police magistrates, and other
members of the legal profession expressed similar opinions. *

^ e.g,. His Eminence, Cardinal Moran, the Chief Justice of
Victoria (the Hon. George Higinbotham), the Rev. H. L. Jackson,
Incumbent of St. James', Sydney, the Rev. George Walters
(Unitarian), and the Rev. Dr. Roseby (Wesleyan) were among
the few men of prominence who publicly eiqpressed their
comprehension of the issues involved.

* Many employers used their victory with great harshness.
One of the largest Pastoral Mercantile Houses in Australia
required the writer to return a Brief, which he held for them in the
Supreme Court, on the expressed ground that he had written a
letter to the Press which questioned the doctrine of " Freedom of
Contract." If this was done to one who had already held high
ministerial office, the treatment meted out to defenceless workmen
can be imagined.

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THE NEW PARTY

Beaten in the strike. Labour, in the hour of its defeat,
turned to poUtics. " This then,'* says the Report of the
Labour Defence Committee, "is over and above all
others our greatest lesson — ^that an organisation must
become a means of education and constitutional power.
Already it is half learnt. We have come out of the con-
ffict a united Labour Party. . . . The next General
Election must j^eld us the balance of power." These
words were prophetic.

Labour Turns to Politics

At the General Election, in June, 1891, thirty-six
members were returned to the Parliament of New South
Wales upon the Labour Ticket, out of forty-five who
stood as Labour candidates. They held the balance of
power, and at their first caucus in ParUament House,
decided to support Sir Henry Parkes, who had reluctantly
remained in office upon pressure from Lord Jersey, the
Governor, who, himself a partner in Child's, foresaw the
coming banking crisis. In the debate on the Address, in
reply, Mr. George Black, " sick," as he writes, " of hearing
Labour members alternately cajoled and buUied" by
speakers on both sides, made the dramatic declaration
that his party was attached to neither side, but that its
poUcy would be "Support in return for concessions."
" If," he said, " you give us our concessions, then our votes
shall circulate on the Treasury benches ; if you do not,
then we shall withdraw our support. But we have not
come into this House to make and uiunake ministries ;
but to make and unmake social conditions."

A Retrospect

Looking back now over seventeen years, it must be
admitted that the work of the party has not equalled the
excessive hopes of its members and the undignified alarm
of its opponents. Its influence certainly quickened the

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

passage of Electoral Reform (1892), Old Age Pensions
(1899), and Woman's Sufib'age (1901), and prepared the
gromid for the " Lidustrial Arbitration Act " (1901),
although its members took no part in the preparation of
this measure. Most of the measures, however, for which
the party how claims credit in the Commonwealth and
New South Wales, had already found places in the
progranmie of one or other of the established parties.
This, however, is not to detract from its merit, which Ues
not so much in what it has accomplished, as in the spirit
of greater earnestness and sincerity which it has intro-
duced into Australian politics. The party gains support
not only because, as the writer in the Titnes points out,
it has annexed the poUcy of all Progressives, but because
its purposes are serious and its sjmipathies Australian.

The Caucus

The one just cause of complaint against the Labour
Party and that which has hitherto separated it from
other Progressives, is the dominance of the machine
outside Parliament and of the caucus within. The first
experiences of the party, when members were detached
from it on critical occasions, by the specious terms of
catch resolutions, compelled the adoption of a cast-
iron pledge, by which every member of the party under-
took to vote on every occasion as a majority of the
caucus should determine. This proved impracticable
because the caucus could not be convened to meet
every ParUamentary emergency ; and the pledge has been
several times modified, until, in the Commonwealth ParUa-
ment, it only binds members to vote together on questions
which involve the fate of a Ministry, or concern a plank
in the party's platform, which is no greater obligation
than every member owes to the party which he is dected
to support. The difference is not in the object aimed at,
but in the method. Members of Parliament owe a duty

' 08

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THE PLEDGED DELEGATE

to their constitaents to explain their votes, whether
these be given for or against their party. This explana-
tion can be given either on the floor of the House or in
the electorate, but no member can shirk the obUgation.
Labour members, on the other hand, are pledged to keep
secret the dehberations of their caucus. They must vote,
when the occasion for a caucus arises, as the majority
determines, ^d can shield themselves from the censure
of their constituents by alleging this justification. This,
in effect, withdraws discussion from Parhament and
therefore from the pubUc to the secrecy of the caucus,
so that the representative S}rstem ceases to exert an
educational influence, which is one of its main purposes,
either in the House or the electorates. Every year
lessens the advantages of this system, which in its present
form has outgrown its usefulness. It is only in its
early days of weakness that a party need bind all its
members by a pledge to obey the majority and require
them to accept every plank in its platform, although
most of these may be mere counsels of perfection, which
are not likely to come within the field of practical poUtics
for many years. When a party has gained strength,
and can express its principles in definite and practicable
proposals, it is surely a sign of its strength, which involves
no risk, to leave a certain freedom of thought and action
to its ParUamentary representatives. The Labour
Members of Parhament have already reahsed this need
for greater freedom ; but the organisations outside
insist upon retaining control although this has already
forced their leader in Queensland, Mr. Kidston, to seek
aUiances elsewhere and compelled a ministry of their
own choosing in Western Australia to resign office in
disgust. The " soUdarity pledge " is accordingly still
required of Labour candidates, although its stringency
has been relaxed, and no working arrangement has
yet been come to between the Labour Leagues in the

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

constituencies, and members of the Progressive party,
who are in sympathy with the immediate aims of Labour.
This is a soutce of weakness which may bring temporary
failure. But as the party gains in power and responsi-
bility, it should be able to maintain an equally effective
discipline by means which are less derogatory to the
self-respect and independence of its members. For the
present, however, the caucus and the machine expose
the party to suspicion and attack.

The Programme

The Programme of the Commonwealth Labour Party
as agreed to at the Conference of Labour Leagues in
1908, contains the following proposals : —

AUSTRALIAN LABOUR PARTY

Fighting Platform and General Platform as adopted at Conference,
Brisbane, July, 1908.

OBJECTIVE

(a) The cultivation of an Australian seiitimeiit» based upon
the maintenance of racial purity, and the development in
Australia of an enlightened and self-reliant community ;

(6) The securing of the fuU results of their industry to all
producers by the collective ownership of monopolies, and the
extension of the industrial and economic functions of the State
and Municipality.

FIGHTING PLATFORM

1. Maintenance of a White Australia.

2. The New Protection.

3. Nationalisation of Monopolies.

4. Graduated Tax on Unimproved Land Values.

5. Citizen Defence Force.

6. Commonwealth Bank.

7. Restriction of Public Borrowing.

8. Navigation Laws.

9. Arbitration Act Amendment.

GENERAL PLATFORM
1. Maintenance of a White Australia.

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THE LABOUR PROGRAMME

2. New Ptotection — ^Amendment of Constitution to ensure
effective Federal legislation for New Protection and Arbitration.

3. Nationalisation of Monopolies — ^if necessary, amendment of
Constitution to provide for same.

4. Graduated Land Tax — Graduated tax on all estates over
;£5,000 in value on an unimproved basis.

5. Citizen Defence Force, with compulsory military training,
and Australian-owned and controlled Navy.

6. Commonwealth Bank of Issue, Deposit, Exchange and
Reserve, with non-political management.

7. Restriction of Public Borrowing.

8. Navigation Laws to provide— (a) for the protection of
Australian shipping against unfair competition ; (6) registration
of all vessels engaged in the coastal trade ; (c) the efficient man-
ning of vessels ; {d) the proper supply of life-saving and other
equipments ; (e) the regulation of hours and conditions of work ;
if) proper acconmiodation for passengers and seamen ; {g) proper
loading gear and inspection of same ; (h) compulsory insurance
of crews by shipowners against accident or death.

9. Arbitration Act Amendment, to provide for Preference to
Unionists and exclusion of the legal profession, with provision
for the inclusion of all State Government employees.

10. Old Age and Invalid Pensions.

1 1 . General Insurance Department, with non-political manage-
ment.

12. Civil Equality of Men and Women.

1 3. Naval and Military expenditure to be allotted from proceeds
of direct taxation.

14. Initiative and Referendum.

PLEDGE

I hereby pledge myself not to oppose the candidate selected
by the recognised political Labour organisation, and, if elected,
to do my utmost to carry out the principles embodied in the
Australian Labour Party's Platform and on all questions affecting
the Platform to vote as a majority of the Parliamentary Party
may decide at a duly constituted caucus meeting.

In one sense this programme is Socialistic; but
it will be observed that it does not adopt the collective
ownership of all means of production, which is the dis-
tinctive doctrine of European Socialism. All it urges in
this direction is that collective ownership should super-
sede or prevent monopolies> — which is the creed of the
London County Council and the main-spring of the

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Municipal activities of Birmingham and Glasgow.^
In practice this would mean that the Commonwealth
would buy out the Tobacco Trust, and thus estabUsh a
monopoly in a most profitable source of revenue, similar
to that which the British Government now enjoys in
Cyprus, and to those which have existed for many
years in European states, whose rulers have never been
suspected of SociaUst tendencies.

What the Party Stands for

The foregoing anal3rsis of the Labour Party's aims
ought to disprove the charge, which is frequently urged
against it, of being essentially anti-capitalist. On the
contrary the party, as a whole, has never considered
attacks on capital as a matter of practical politics. Its
leaders are men of recognised probity and ability, and
its ranks contain a fair sprinkUng of men of all social
grades, — ^farmers, professional men, shopkeepers, clergy
and University graduates, — although manual workers are
of course, in the majority. The majority of Socialists,
it is true, work with the Labour Party, though Socialist
bodies have opposed it and even run candidates against
its nominees. It is also true that some enthusiastic
supporters of the party indulge in violent language ; but
this is no more representative of the aims and methods of
Australian Labour than the speeches in Hyde Park on a
Sunday afternoon represent the opinion of the working

^ The Bulletin has asked, in reference to the charge against the
Labour Party that it advocates " Socialism," " What is Social-
ism ? Is it Socialism to run a factory to make the postman's
clothes, and yet not Socialism to run a post-office ? Or is it
Socialism to light a street and yet not Socialism to light a sand-
bank ? Or is it Socialism to run a mine, and yet not Socialism
to run a mining battery ? Is it Socialism to tax land-values,
and yet not Socialism to tax building improvements ? Is it
Socialism to build mail-steamers, and yet not Socialism to build
a river ferry ? **

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FACTS AND PREJUDICES

classes of Great Britain. Unquestionably the Australian
Labour Party represents some of the best elements of
sane patriotism which the Commonwealth possesses, and
its poUtical action has never been influenced by the
prospect of personal gain.

This is a different picture from that which is presented
to English readers by Australian party newspapers,
writing in the heat of an dection contest. But it should
be remembered, in judging of Australia by the utterances
of its poUticians or by writings in the Press, that Parlia-
ment and the newspapers cry every defect and error of
Australians through a megaphone ; and that for many
years the Labour Party has represented all that is most
disliked by a somewhat narrow capitaUstic press. ^ The
Australian Labour Party advocates compulsory military
service as the first duty of citizenship, and extends
training to every boy at school, in the belief that a citizen
army is the best safeguard of democracy, and that a
country which is worth Uving in is worth fighting for.
It also realises that the Empire is the greatest force the
world has ever seen for the establishment of peace, justice
and freedom. Thus the party is one with a wide outlook
and broad s^pathies and so holds a high position in the
public regard. * For the moment, however, the Labour
Party in Australia is an ofience to persons in authority
who have the ear of the Press, and a stumbhng-block,

* English observers, such as Ptofessor Gregory, or the writer
of the Articles of the Times on " Australian Ideals " soon form
a different estimate of the Labour Party.

* The Banks' crisis of 1892 is sometimes attributed to the strike
of 1891. This is an error. The boom broke in Adelaide in
1887. The Building Societies, which were a favourite investment
for the savings of the working classes began to fail in 1889. The
financial crisis was really due to an unsound S3rstem of banking.
Money was borrowed in London on short terms and lent on
mortgage to squatters on long terms. It would have happened
many years earlier but for the large sums expended by the several
State Governments out of the proceeds of public loans.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

through misapprehension of its work and purpose, to
many well-wishers to Australia. The extent of these
misapprehensions, and the extent to which the principles
upon which many of their measures have been founded
are misconstrued, will be shown again and again in the
course of this book.

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CHAPTER VI

EDUCATION

(1) Distribution over States — ^New South Wales — ^Victoria —
South Australia — ^Western Australia — Queensland — Tasmania,
(2) Amount and Quality ; Cost — ^Attendance — Curricula —
Private Schools — Secondary Education — ^Technical Education
— ^Universities— Summary — ^Practice and Ideals.

Primary education in Australia has passed through three
phases. In the earlier States, the fiist scheme for educa-
tion was based on the Irish National S3^tem — State
provided undenominational, and subsidised denomina-
tional schools. Later, the dual S3rstem was abolished and
all primary schools brought under one control, and in the
third phase the S3rstem in each State has been made
uniform and placed under one responsible minister.
New South Wales, as the mother State, has priority in
point of date, in educational as in other matters, but each
State though influenced by the systems adopted by its
neighbours, has developed for itself a S3rstem of primary
and secondary education, as well as technical and uni-
versity training. In a brief survey it is confusing to
multiply dates and details. Accordingly, for the sake of
conciseness, the growth of education in Australia will be
described in respect of its distribution over different
States ; its amount both as regards quantity and quality ;
and, finally, an attempt will be made to put the systems
in operation, to the test of modem educational methods,

(1) Distribution over States

New South Wales

Prior to 1848 all education was in the hands of one or
other of the four Churches which received State aid —
AngUcan, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan.
The combined efforts of these bodies were only adequate

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

to give instruction to less than half of the children of
school age. They had, altogether, 12,000 in these schools ;
private schools, of unequal merit, taught about 6,000
more, and about 14,000 got no schooUng. In 1848 a
Board of National Education was incorporated, and State
Schools estabUshed under its control. '' From that year
until 1867," says Mr. Board, the Under-Secretary of
PubUc Instruction in New South Wales, in a paper
contributed to Mr. Knibbs*s "Official Year Book,"
" two educational bodies co-existed, created by the same
authority, and supphed with funds from the same source,
the Public Treasury. The progress of the one was
secured at the expense of the other ; and, instead of
mutual help and co-operation, jealousy of each other's
success and division and consequent waste of means were
the inevitable results." Sir Henry Parkes in 1867 placed
both kinds of schools under the authority of an incorpor-
ated Coimcil of Education consisting of five members,
who were entrusted with the expenditure of all money
appropriated by ParUament for primary education. The
schools — ^under the title of " Public Schools " — still
comprised some denominational ones. Instruction was
divided into " Secular " and " Religious," but the word
" secular " was defined to include undogmatic religious
teaching as distinguished from polemical theology. In
Denominational Schools the religious teaching might be
given by the teachers. In the others it must be given in an
hour set apart for the purpose each day in school-time
by one of the clergy or some other accredited instructor.
The Council took over 259 National Schools attended by
19,461 pupils and 310 Denominational Schools attended
by 27,986 pupils.

Sir Henry Parkes again completely transformed the
S3^tem in 1880. All aid was withdrawn from Denom-
inational Schools, and the control of the whole educational
system of the colony was given to a responsible Minister.

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SECULAR EDUCATION

The teachers became civil servants and teaching uniform.
Attendance at school was made compulsory for all
between the ages of six and fourteen years for seventy
da3rs in the year ; fees were low and were remitted to the
poorer parents ; in 1906 they were remitted altogether ;
instruction was " secular " in the sense explained above,
and the facilities for religious instruction were retained.
Only the Church of England avails itself of these f adUties
to any considerable extent. The Roman Catholics prefer
to send their children to CathoUc Schools, and other
denominations are content with the "secular" in-
struction. This measure placed the school system of the
colony on a permanent basis which has never since been
changed. At the date of the change 101,534 children
were receiving instruction, of whom 22,716 were in
D^iominational Schools.

Victoria

Victoria retained the Irish National S3^tem of Educa-
tion with its vexatious dual control from the date of its
separation from New South Wales (1851) until 1862.
In that year " The Common Schools Act," anticipating
Sir Henry Parkes's Act of 1867, placed all State-aided
schools under the control of a single Board of Education.
" This Act," says Mr. Board, " was not found to work
with entire satisfaction, on account of its failure to provide
an3rthing hke an equal distribution of educational faciUties
and it was superseded by the Education Act of 1872."
This measure was the highest expression of the educational
theories of the day. It accepted the principle of " free,
compulsory, and secular" instruction, without any
reservation and made examinations the test of the capa-
city of both pupils and teachers. Masterpieces of EngUsh
hterature were bowdlerised of any word which suggested
the unseen or supernatural, and teachers were paid, in
addition to their salary, an amount not exceeding 50 per

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

cent, according to the percentage of marks obtained by
their pupils at an annual examination. " Pa)nnent by
results " was not abolished until 1901. Thus the
measure which effected this belated reform increased the
necessary school attendance from forty days per quarter
to 75 per cent, of the whole nimiber of half-days on which
the school was open. The school age was raised from
thirteen to fourteen years in 1905. The same Act
increased the number of necessary school attendances.
Religious teaching is given, out of school hours, by the
clergy or duly appointed religious instructors. In
each of the 969 school districts there is an Elective
of Board of Advice, which determines what facilities
shall be given to religious teaching and generally super-
intends the working of the schools, under the direction
of the Minister for Education.

South Australia

The educational system of South Australia passed
through the normal stages of Australian growth — ^from
the assisted private school (1847) to the State-aided
Denominational School (1851, 1875), and from the latter
to the full-blown State School under the control of a
responsible Minister (1878). Since that date instruction
has been compulsory. Children living near towns must
attend at least four-fifths of the time during which the
school is open. Children living within three miles of a
school must attend for thirty-five days in each quarter.
Teachers are permitted to give Bible readings during the
half-hour which precedes the statutory opening of the
school. In one respect South Australia has always
set a good example, namely, by endeavouring to prevent
instruction becoming a mechanical routine. A consider-
able freedom of choice in subjects is allowed to teachers
and the methods are elastic, while examinations have
never been permitted to usurp the place of education.

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OTHER SYSTEMS

The Roman Catholics as a body m this State, as elsewhere
in Australia, keep aloof from the public schools, holding
that religious instruction is a fundamental and indis-
pensable part of the education of the young. They
maintain their own schools, and permit the Government
to inspect the quahty of their teaching, but, except for
this purpose, they do not subnut to official interference.

Western Australia

The State assumed control of education in Western
Australia in 1893, and aboUshed aid to denominational
schools in 1895. Its S3^tem resembles that of New South
Wales, in being " free, compulsory and secular " in the
sense of the term adopted by that colony. School fees
were aboUshed in 1899. Except that the State in 1905
required the teachers and proprietors of private schools
to send returns of attendance every month to the Educa-
tion Department, there is nothing in the educational
system of Western Australia which distinguishes it from
other States.

Queensland

The Irish National System survived in Queensland
until 1875. In that year the State Education Act
abolished the Board of Education and estabUshed a
State sj^tem of PubUc Instruction on the familiar " free
compulsory and secular lines." " Secular " was given
the Victorian meaning, but religious instruction was
allowed to be given out of school hours by some one other
than the teacher. School fees were abolished in 1870.
The minimum statutory attendance is for sixty days
in each half-year.

Tasmania

Education in Tasmania was organised in 1885 upon the
same Unes as in New South Wales, but the administration
lagged behind that of other States. The reform movement

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

in the parent colony re-acted on the Island, and in
1904 a complete re-organisation was decided upon. The
same changes were adopted which were recommended in
New South Wales, notably the abolition of pupil teachers.
Sufficient time has not dapsed to see the fruits of this
reform.

(2) Amount and Quality

Cost

Australians have never grudged money for educational
purposes, it being a tenet of their creed that every child
should be given an equal chance in the race of life. None,
therefore, must be handicapped by lack of knowledge.
The total cost of primary education was £2,216,920, of
which £,2,009,991 were spent on maintenance and instruc-
tion and £206,929 on buildings. In addition £78,754
were expended in 1906 on technical education, and every
State has Secondary Schools and Training Colleges, the
cost of which is not included in the above figures. Bur-
saries are given in every State to enable pupils to pass
through each grade of school to the University ; but these,
Uke scholarships at EngUsh Universities, tend to be
diverted to the boy whose parents can pay for good
teaching. They need to be larger in amount and more
numerous, before the University can be the goal of any
and every pupil in a primary school. The States also
contribute £45,315 as subsidies to the four Universities.

Attendance

In 1906 there were 7,308 State Schools in the Common-
wealth. These were under the charge of 14,908 teachers,
and had an average daily attendance of 442,440 children.
The number enrolled was 609,592. Do these figures
indicate success or failure ? It is not easy to reply with
certainty, owing to the lack of available figures as to the

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TRUANCY

number of children of school age.^ But it would seem
from a rough calculation that about 40,000 children, or
about 16 per cent, of those who ought to be at school, are
growing up in ignorance.' This is not a large number
when the circumstances of Australia are taken into
account.

The Education Departments have to face two great
difficulties, namely, a scattered population, and truancy.

They have met the first by establishing " half-time "
schools in remote districts, which a teacher visits on
alternate da}^: by itinerant teachers in less settled
districts : by free conveyance of children everywhere on
the State railways and on mail coaches. The latter
expedient has the additional advantage of allowing small
schools to be closed and concentrating the education of
a district in an adequately-staffed and well-equipped
central school. An equal success has not been achieved
in coping with truancy, which is the pecuhar difficulty of
Australian cities. This is no doubt partly due to the
attractiveness of out-door life, but, partly also (it must
be confessed) to parental neglect. The only remedy for
the latter cause is to give the State the power, imder

^ The school age in the several States is :

In New South Wales and Victoria over 6 and under 14

In Western Australia, S. Australia
and Tasmania . . ,, 7 ,, 13

In Queensland .. ,, 6 „ 12

* This estimate is arrived at thus : — ^The children of school
age in 1906 would consist chiefly of the 822,041 who were bom
in the octennial period 1893-1900. Assuming that 20,000 of
these children died before 1906, there would be about 800,000
children to provide for. As we have seen, 609,592 were at the
State schook. Of the balance 124,510 were at private schools.
There are no figures as to the number taught at home, but some
well-to-do persons in the cities and many in the country, have
tutors and governesses so that 30,000 does not seem an excessive
estimate. This would leave about 40,000 children unaccounted
for. Mr. Coghlan states (" Australia and New Zealand, 1903-4,"
p. 872) that 46,000 children were receiving no education in 1901 «
Since that date the attendance has undoubtedly improved,

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

certain circumstances, to remove a child from the custody
of its parents. For many years — except in South Aus-
tralia, where, by the exertions of Miss Catherine Spence,
Australia's " Grand Old Woman," neglected children
became the care of the State in 1887 — ^Australian Legisla-
tures have shrunk from such an interference with parental
rights. In 1905 New South Wales passed an Act*
empowering the State to remove children from the custody
of depraved parents, forbidding children of school age
to hawk in the street, and making provision for the care
and education of all neglected children, except the
mentally deficient, who were dealt with in another
measure. No other State has as yet followed the
example, but in the same year Victoria passed a measure
for punishing more severely parents who omitted to send
children to school.

Curricula

The curricula in all States are practically the same,
and have Uttle which is distinctively Australian.

Reading, writing, arithmetic, drawing, grammar, geo-
graphy, history (English and Australian), singing, science,
manual training, gjonnastics and swimming (where
practicable) are ever3rwhere compulsory subjects. Lec-
tures, too, are given on the laws of health ; and girls are
taught, in addition, needlework, cookery and domestic
economy. Fortunately there is no reason to believe that
the pupils take this long list seriously. Kindergartefis
are established for infants in most of the larger centres
of population, and agriculture is taught in some country

^ This measure was prepared in 1903 by the then Attorney
General, with the assistance of Captain Neitenstein, D.S.O., the
Inspector of Prisons, and Dr. Mackellar, M.L.C. It was passed
twice through the Legislative Council but failed to enlist the
sympathy of other members of the Cabinet and was dropped in the
Assembly. It was passed as the first measure of the succeeding
Parliament by what had been His Majesty's Opposition.

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SCHOOLS AND SNOBBERY

schools. There is also military drill in Cadet Corps,
which will become miiversal, when the measure for
compulsory service shall have passed Parliament. Here
it is sufficient to remark that both parents and pupils
would prefer to see every other subject expunged from
the cturiculum, than forego the necessary training in this
first duty of citizenship. Certain " extra " subjects for
which fees are charged are taught in the larger schools,
e.g., Latin, French, algebra, trigonometry, shorthand, etc.

Prtvate Schools

The large number of pupils who attend private schools
is a remarkable feature of the education system and is
due to two causes, first, that the Roman Cathohcs and, to
a lesser extent, the Church of England, prefer to send their
children to schools which have a rehgious atmosphere ;
and, secondly, that dass feeling creates, especially in the
dties, a certain prejudice against the Public School.
So far as this prejudice rests on anything but snobbishness,
it is due to a preference for the disciphne of a boarding
school or for the greater individual attention which can
be given by a private teacher. But it is not easy to
understand why there is not just the same general mixing
of rich and poor in the Australian Public Schools
as in the common schools of the United States. This is
one of many puzzhng points of difference between the two
democracies.

Secondary Education

New South Wales has three grades of schools : the
ordinary Public Schools ; the " Superior" Schools, where
subjects for the Senior and Junior University examination
are taught, nimibering 1,429 in 1906; and five High
Schools, of which two are for bo3^ and three for girls.
The number of pupils at these five schools was 723 in
1906. It is intended to reserve these schools as training

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

9chools]for'teachers/ and use about twenty of the laiger
superior schools to take their place. The Hawkesbury
Agricultural Collie also trains ten teachers yearly.
In Victoria and South Australia what are called " Con-
tinuation Schools " and " Continuation Classes " have
been established to give preliminary training to persons
who propose to become teachers. Neither Queensland,
Tasmania nor Western Australia have established
Secondary Schools, but in Tasmania the University
prepares pupils for the Junior Public Examination.

Technical Education

If one were to judge only from the number of Technical
Colleges, technical education in Australia would be
thought extremely good. But there is reason to fear
that most of them have aimed at teaching a variety of
mechanical arts and neglected the essential groimdwork
in drawing, chemistry and mathematics, without which
technical education is a mere sham. At one college in
Sydney, for instance, anyone can get instruction — and
a Certificate of Competence — ^in more than fifty different
trades. His course of instruction may last a week, and
at the end of it he will be able to do, say, simple plumbing,
with tools and materials prepared for him in advance.
If, however, a Technical College were to attempt to
give a thorough technical education it would overlap
some of the fimctions of the University. For facilities
have been created of late years in the Universities of both
Sydney and Melbourne, for giving both technical and
theoretical instruction in engineering, mining, mineralogy,
biology, pharmacy and dentistry, in addition to the usual
classical, mathematical, scientific, medical and philoso-
phical courses. There is also a good deal of overlapping
between Technical Schools and Schools of Art, Working
Men's Colleges, and Art Classes. Indeed no branch of the
educational system stands in more pressing need of reform,

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INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONS

both in respect of the purpose they are intended to fulfil
and the methods they employ. What can be done by a
Technical School, which teaches one subject thoroughly
may be seen at " The School of Mines," which was estab-
lished at Ballarat (Victoria) in 1870 " to impart instruction
in the various branches of science connected with mining."
This school draws students from all the States of Australia,
and even from outside the Commonwealth, and its
diplomas command responsible positions in every mining
district in the world. Queensland gives subsidies to
Technical Colleges which are carried on in connection
with Schools of Art under the control of Local Councils
and Victoria adopts the same practice. South Australia
confines its efforts to instruction in mining matters, as
do most of the Tasmanian schools. In Hobart there is
one institution which almost rivals that of Sydney in the
imiversal character of its instruction. It issues diplomas
in twenty-nine different subjects. The Technical School
in Western Australia is affiliated with the University of
Adelaide and gives serious instruction in applied science.

The Universities

The Universities of Sydney and Melbourne completely
overshadow the two smaller Universities of Adelaide
and Tasmania. Both of them have fifteen professorial
chairs, and the lecturers at Sydney number sixty-one
and at Melbourne fifty-five. Beside these figures the
nine professors and twenty-three lecturers of Adelaide
or the three professors and six lecturers of Tasmania
make a poor array. Fortunately, the influence of a
University is not determined by its size. All the Univer-
sities receive subsidies from their respective States, but
two owe the greater part of their income and endowment
to private benefactions. The Challis bequest to the
University of Sydney was £190,000. Another bene-
factor, Mr. Peter Russell, gave £100,000. Sir Thomas

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Elder gave a like amount in various sums to the University
of Adelaide. Melbourne draws a smaller income from
this source than either of its continental sisters, but as
a compensation the influence of the University is greater
there than in any other State. It is not easy to account
for this ; unless the reason be that the affiliated colleges —
Trinity (Church of England, 1892), Ormond (Presb3rterian,
1881), and Queen's (Wesleyan, 1888) have always at-
tracted students, while the three colleges of the Sydney
University, St. Paul's (Church of England, 1854),
St. John's (Roman CathoUc, 1857), and St. Andrew's
(Presbjrterian, 1868) have for some unexplained reason
never been popular. Undergraduates who live in colleges
develop a stronger corporate feeling than those who are
scattered in lodgings through a large city. The value
of the Universities to Austraha is that they have
withstood the utilitarian ideal of education, and insisted
on the importance of a ground-work training in what
Scotsmen call the Humanities. In rendering this
service to the cause of education they have occasionally
come into conflict with the Departments of PubUc
Instruction. Better relations have now been established
between these two bodies. In New South Wales the
Training College for Teachers is to be affihated with the
University. It is to be hoped that in time to come every
teacher vdll have taken a degree. In Victoria since 1902
teachers at the Training College in Melbourne have
attended University lectures and taken Diplomas in
Pedagogics given by the University.

Summary

It is now possible to make an intelligible survey of the
progress of primary education in Australia.

/dl the States at first left education to their Churches ;
all, at various periods in their history, brought it under
State control : Victoria in 1872, Queensland in 1875,

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RELIGIOUS TEACHING

South Australia in 1878, New South Wales in 1880,
Tasmania in 1885, and Western Australia in 1893. This
was not a contagious movement, for each State, except
Western AustraUa, which was imdoubtedly influenced by
Eastern example, — acted independently ; but it was a
gradual evolution in response to the philosophy of the
day, which drew a Une of demarcation between " secular **
and " religious " duties, and had a concept of " the State,"
as an abstraction different from the living people who
compose it. The idea that common action might be
directed to the spirituaUsation of national Ufe, as well
as to enlarging its capacities, was wholly inconsistent
with the current jargon. A great opportunity was thus
lost, and there is now a danger lest the springs of life
should be choked by materiaUsm.

There has been as much variety in the working of the
S}^tem as in the dates of its adoption.

Queensland was the first State to make education free
(1870), Victoria followed in 1873, South AustraUa in 1891,
Western Australia in 1899, New South Wales in 1905, and
Tasmania^ (partially) in 1904. There has been even
greater divergence in the provision of rehgious instruction.

Victoria and Queensland have made their system
frankly secular. Rehgious instruction may be given as
a " fancy extra " in the children's play-time by strange
teachers, but no idea must penetrate the schoolroom
that all things are not what they appear. In New South
Wales, Tasmania and Western Austraha the teachers are
required to give a general instruction in religious matters
to all children, subject to a conscience clause ; and
facilities are given to the clergy to give dogmatic teaching
in school hours. In South AustraUa the teacher may read
the Bible without comment for half-an-hour before the
statutory hour of opening school.

^ Children under seven are educated free. Above that age
a smaU fee may be charged.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Practice and Ideals

Far more important than the subjects of instruction
are the eflSciency and methods of the teacher. All the
Australian States entrust the teaching of jimior classes
to pupil teachers, and all but South Australia have
become enslaved by the examination system.

A young country is exposed to two dangers in matters
of the mind. First, lest a sj^tem, originally in advance
of others, should be retained, after its day is past, from
mere self-complacency ; and, secondly, lest a certain
retardation of thought, caused by remoteness from
intellectual centres, should prolong the life of theories
which other nations have abandoned. In 1870 the
" free, compulsory, and secular " sj^tem of AustraUa was
probably the best in the world.* But, Uke all State
systems, it had tended to become mechanical. None the
less it remained " the best system in the world " to
veterans, who recalled what it had replaced, and was
accepted as such by the yoimger generation upon this
assurance.

When the control of Australian education passed
to the States, a belief in the value of examinations was
the mark of an educational reformer. Long before 1900
it was perceived that intellect could not be measured
by marks, and there was a return to the ancient view
that education meant not the acquisition of facts but
the exercise of faculties. These views, however, did not
prevail in Australia for many years. Like all Govern-
ment departments, the Education Departments resented
criticism and were averse to change; while politicians
would not willingly raise any education question, because
of the religious controversies which are involved
in its discussion. Every year increased the nmnber of

^ This statement, of course, depends on the assumption
which many people would refuse to admit, that instruction
without religion deserves to be called Education.

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THE PUPIL TEACHER

teachers and officers who had been trained in the system
and knew no other. One practice, however, was too
absurd to escape criticism and too illogical to withstand
a serious attack. The battle for educational reform
centred aroimd the pupil teacher.

On this point it is difficult to write without appearing
to reflect unfairly on a body of devoted men and women,
who have given life-service to the cause of education.
Yet there is no subject around which the mind should play
more freely than the educational system of a young
country, and criticism is directed to the system, not to
individuals. Moreover, the movement in Victoria and
New South Wales against the pupil teacher is a turning-
point in the history of Australian education, and therefore
cannot be passed over.

The practice of employing senior pupils to teach junior
classes, which was a legacy from the Irish National
S3^tem, was adopted in the first instance from motives
of economy, * and maintained, when this plea could be no
longer urged, by professional esprit de corps. The practice
was defended by pointing to the good teachers which it
had produced — ^as if exceptional men would not show their
merit under any S3^tem — ^but no attempt was made to
justify it by reason. And indeed it is clear that the
youngest children need the most experienced teacher,
and require a patience and sympathy which bo;^ and girls
of fifteen or sixteen cannot possibly possess. The
mischief only takes another form, if the " pupil teachers **
are assigned to the higher classes. In either situation
they lack the power to bring their minds to play upon the
pupil's mind, and follow the progress of his growing
intelligence. It is true that in the earlier stages of
education a child learns by rote, without an apprehension
of the meaning of the rules which he obe)^. But, even

* In New South Wales, e.g., Pupil teachers receive : Males*
;£40 to £65 ; Females, £3S to ;f45 a year.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

in this d^tnentary form of mental gymnastics, there is
large scope for the intelligence of a trained teacher.
Directly teaching becomes dull, the words of a teacher
make no more impression on a child's brain than the click
of a machine.

The mischief of the system was equSdly apparent in the
Department of Education as in the schools — ^had anyone
wished to perceive it. The practice of the Department
was alwaj^ to discourage the appointment of outsiders
to any of its offices. The teachers were drawn from the
scholars, and the higher appointments in the Department
from the teachers. By this process the Department
became a close official hierarchy, all the members of which
had passed through the same routine and had been taught
on the same system. This tended to create a narrow
outlook. Education became a matter of departmental
regulation, watched at every turn by departmental
officers and administered by departmental teachers, who,
if the S3^tem had not been altered, would in a few years
have had neither enterprise, imagination, nor originality.
There was a real risk, which is still present to the majority
of the Australian States, lest too elaborate organisation
should stifle intelligence, and education come to be
estimated by the measurable results of an examination
and not by its influence in forming character. By the
pupil teacher system, teachers were (killed too quickly into
the groove of official routine, and compelled to fix their
minds at an age which is peculiarly susceptible to gen-
erous impulse, on the sordid cares and narrowing duties
of a professional career. Australians are often slow
to recognise that the too early acquisition of the " tech-
nique " of an art is one of those short cuts to proficiency
wWch proves the longest way round. The Department
itself endeavoured to avoid the danger of too early
specialisation^ by sending pupil teachers after four years
to undergo a course in a training college in Sydney.

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NATURE STUDY

This, however, was optional, and most pupil teachers
at once passed their examinations and took charge of a
school.

The movement for reform in New South Wales came
from the teachers themselves in 1902. In that year
three officers of the Department were appointed as Com-
missioners to visit Great Britain, Europe, and the United
States, and report upon educational methods. They
reconmiended drastic changes, and their Report revived
interest in educational matters. The opportimity was
taken to re-model the educational system. By an Act
passed in 1905 no new pupil teachers are to be appointed.
But the chief reform is a new spirit of administration.
Exaiminations are preserved only as a quahf3dng test, and
Inspectors are no longer occupied with classifying schools
according to the niunber of their marks. They have in-
stead to help and advise the teacher to develop the intelli-
gence of his pupils, and lay more stress on teaching a child
to think, than on imparting knowledge. The methods of
teaching, too, are changed. The concrete is substituted
for the abstract, and the old '' object " lesson is replaced
by courses of nature study, so that the child may learn to
understand the nature and significance of the things he
has about him in his daUy hfe. Plainly the elasticity and
freedom of this system will make a larger demand upon the
teacher than a system of routine, and it is here that the
danger hes.

Fortunately this has been foreseen, and careful provision
made for the training of new teachers. These will be
taught in future by the University, under special provi-
sions, to ensure their training as competent teachers and
in a college of their own. A somewhat similar sj^tem,
though not so complete, had already been adopted in
Victoria. In time, it is to be hoped, a University degree
win be a requisite to entry to the teaching profession.
The young people who now become pupil teachers will be

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

admitted at the age of fifteen upon an examination to a
two years' course of study at a high-grade school. On
the completion of this course, pupils will be eligible to
enter for an examination for admission to the training
college. These reforms will take some years to mature,
but they proceed on right lines. Indeed, perhaps the
highest tribute to the old system is that it created the
men who are constructing the new one.

There still remains the question, are the Austrahans an
educated people ? Indignation at the doubt may pos-
sibly prevent an answer. Tried by the standard of the
average man they are ; that is to say, they read news-
papers, periodicsds, good novels, and a percentage of
serious books with more avidity even than Americans.
But in the sense that the Greeks were an educated
race, that is to say, that they have a national standard
of culture and an instinctive dislike of what is false or
ugly, they are no more educated than the English.
They have a small number of educated men, though the
crowd is both articulate and powerful. Enquire of
painters, sculptors, writers, scientists, musicians, and even
skilled artisans, and they will all give the same answer,
that while the average standard in Australia is higher
than elsewhere, there is Uttle appreciation of the very best.
The writer may be permitted to complete his criticism
by quoting from a speech which he made at the Conference
of School Teachers at Sydney in 1901. " I beUeve you
will agree that our educational system is too exclusively
concerned with testing knowledge and falls short in the
development of the imagination. We may not be able
to teach the technique of any art in our pubhc schools,
but teachers whose own minds have been quickened by
culture, can do much to waken the sense of beauty in their
pupils, and to save Australia from becoming a Democracy
without Art — ^which is Disorder. Certainly the future of
the country is in your hands. Governments have

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A HIGH IDEAL

endeavoured loyally to fling wide the portals of the temple
and the multitude has entered. They will next make
higher education, not the perquisite and prerogative of
the few, but the cheap possession of the many. Never-
theless AustraUa will never gather the best fruit of this
pohcy, unless the teachers form a high ideal of their own
calling. Money can never remunerate you, nor ought
money to be your object. Yours is the work of a brother-
hood united by the same ideals, and as the coming of the
Friars quickened England in the thirteenth century to
a new life, so may your devotion to the work of teaching
make our people less disincUned to thought, less dependent
on sensations, and able to find these satisfactions within
themselves. What a man is will then be of equal
importance with what he knows or does."

This quotation may end a critical chapter. One is
permitted to express views once on any question, BU Bk
ovK eVS^x^a^. It had been easier to praise than to
criticise, for there is much indeed to praise in Australian
education. But within the narrow compass of this work
there is not space to do both, and it is well sometimes to
depart from the ruts.

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CHAPTER VII

THE PUBLIC LANDS : A WASTED HERITAGE

Early Land Systems — ^The Wakefield Theory of Colonisation
and the Agrarian War — ^The Orders in Council of 1847 — ^The
Squatters and the People — The Wakefield Experiment in
South Australia — ^An Immigration Policy.

AusTRAUA is no exception to the general rule that the
history of a young country turns on the administration
of her public lands. For a hundred and twenty-one years,
— ^from the date of her origin until now, — ^the rulers of
Australia have been passing land laws. All have been
directed to the same object, — ^the prevention of large
estates and the settlement of a yeoman population,
— ^and yet the accretion of holdings continues, and absen-
teeism becomes more frequent as monopoly extends.
It speaks little for the capacity of the human race to
profit by experience, that the agrarian troubles, which
afSict Australia to-day, should be the same as those which
vexed the souls of the Gracchi more than twenty centuries
ago. Yet, great as the failure has been, it is unfair to put
the whole blame upon unsuccessful legislators. Their
mistakes and wrongdoings have been numerous, but they
were often fighting against economic forces which are
stronger than laws. To discuss their efforts in detail
would be beyond this volume's scope, but some reference
must be made to earlier legislation, before the existing
S3rstem can be understood.

Early Land Systems

There was a " land question " within the first year of
the settlement at Sydney Cove. Governor Phillip's
Instructions (April 25, 1787,) authorised the grant of

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THE FIRST SETTLERS

land to convicts who had served their sentence
("emancipists,") but were silent on the subject of free
settlers.

In this, the Instructions reflected the divided opinion
of the time upon the true meaning of the new colony.
Governor Phillip himself had never doubted but that
"the country will prove the most valuable acquisition
Great Britain ever made." Like Sir Joseph Banks —
the protector of the colony's infancy — ^Lord Auckland, and
Lord Sydney, he had a vision of a new Empire to replace
that lost by the American revolt. On the other hand,
according to common opinion, the new settlement was
only the substitution of Botany Bay for America as a
convict prison. Lord Grenville had inclined to the
vulgar view. Land might be given to emancipists ;
but seamen, mariners and other free settlers could
wait until Phillip had reported on the capabilities
of the country, and suggested conditions of tenure.
The Governor reported promptly in favour of free
settlers.

The "Additional Instructions" (August 29, 1789)
accordingly directed Phillip to issue a maximum grant
of 150 acres to any non-conunissioned officer or private
of the Marine Corps, who would remain in the colony at
the end of his three years* service. The Governor was
also empowered to issue similar grants " to such other
persons as may be disposed to become settlers ; " but
the value of this concession to Phillip's insistence was
destroyed by a prohibition to extend to the free settlers
the same assistance, in sustenance and labour, which
the State gave to the emancipists. Phillip was to
" encourage free settlers," but he was " not to subject
the public to expense." He might make his bricks, but
he was to use no straw ! Phillip disobeyed the pro-
hibition. He fed all settlers alike from the public store
and assigned convict servants to them without distinction,

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

a course which was approved by Dundas, Lord Grenville's
successor. ^

Even this did not solve the earliest Australian land
question. Both sets of Instructions had been silent
about commissioned officers ; and these now asked for
land as a reward for their services. Phillip, however,
held strictly to the view that the title to land should
depend on actual occupation, and on this point he was
again supported by Dundas. Grants of land accordingly
were^never to be given as rewards for services, but with
the sole object of inducing settlement. According to
this rule the claims of the Marine officers must be refused ;
because, as the War Office had already ascertained,
none of them intended to remain in New South Wales.
The case was different with the officers of the New South
Wales Regiment, which Major Grose had been commis-
sioned to raise in order to replace the Marines. Many
of these had accepted service with the intention of making
new homes and in the belief that they would be given
land. Captain McArthur was one of them. Phillip
accordingly appUed to the Secretary of State for Instruc-
tions. Mr. Secretary Dundas' reply reached Sydney a
fortnight after Phillip had left for England, and was
dealt with by Major Grose, — ^the Commandant, who had
become Lieutenant-Governor.

^ The same Secretary of State, Lord GrenviLe, recommended
Phillip to remove the settlement from Sydney to Norfolk Island.
He took no notice of the Governor's repeated warnings against
an influx of convicts, but went out of his way to instruct the
Governor upon a matter about which he could not possibly have
any knowledge. The selection of Sydney was due to Phillip's
sea-training, and that he stood by the site is one of the many
gains Australia owes to her sailor Governors.

Mr. Britton, editor of " The History of New South Wales from
the Records " (vol. ii, p. 82), states that the voluminous corre-
spondence of Lord GrenviUe contains no reference to New South
Wales. Lord Brougham, who in 1803 published a treatise on
" The Colonial PoUcy of European Powers." is also silent about
this young settlement, which had then been formed sixteen yean.

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^ v:^^ v V,,-.. . , ,-. ,^.. _,,_. . ,^_ .;. -, , „, . . , . --^7

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THE TRAFFIC IN LAND

The blame for what followed lies on the Governor and
his advisers, and not upon the Secretary of State.
Diindas, following Phillip's advice, permitted grants to
the ofl&cers of the New South Wales Corps, but recom-
mended that these should be made only for the purposes
of settlement. Grose obeyed the letter of these instruc-
tions ; he made the grants and was indifferent to the
purpose. Dundas' despatch la)^ down with wonderful
prevision the object at which all later administrators of
the public lands have fruitlessly aimed, and his language
is as apt to the circumstances of to-day as of his own time.
" The grants," he writes, " must be made not with a view
to a temporary but an estabhshed settlement thereon ;
that is, comprehending such portions of land and in such
situations as would be suitable for a bond fide settler,
should it even come into the hands of another person." ^
In these words Dundas was but echoing PhiUip, who had
warned him against the mischiefs which must follow, if
land became a merchantable commodity. " Experience,"
he writes on October 4, 1792, " has pointed out many
inconveniences attending the receiving of men as settlers,
who only look to the convenience of the present moment.
With some the sole object of becoming settlers .... is
to raise as much money as will pay their passage to Eng-
land and then assign the lands to those who take them
with the same view." PhiUip would have stopped this
traffic in land. Grose complained of it, but would
not change a state of things so profitable to his brother
officers. McArthur had already got together 1,250
acres, when the maximum of any grant was 150 acres !
Surely Phillip's breakdown in health was one of the
shrewdest blows that Fate ever struck Australia. It is one

^ The superior wisdom of the Home Govermnent is illustrated
by a clause in PhiUip's first instructions forbidding any grant
" to extend along the banks of any river." The disregard of this
said rule was one of the chief irritants in the social war between
squatter and selector.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

of many sad wanderings in the land of " might-have-been,*'
to trace the different destiny of Australia, had Phillip
remained Governor but six months longer and adminis-
tered Dundas' Despatch. Under Grose his policy was
thrown aside, and the idea of duty permanently divorced
from the ownership of land. Land became the chief
source of private wealth, and although other circum-
stances aided in destroying PhiUip's high ideals, all, in the
last anal3rsis, were connected with the tenure of land.
Grose was probably imconscious of the mischief he was
doing. His poUcy was more political than agrarian, and
his chief aim the subordination of the civil power to the
miUtary. To this end he encouraged every proceeding
which gave wealth and influence to his regimental officers ;
nothing gave more of both than the ownership of land.
Grose, accordingly, although he could not give grants
beyond the hmits set by his instructions, facilitated the
occupation of lands belonging to his officers, by an
extra-legal assignment to each officer of ten convicts,
victualled and clothed from the public stores. But the
most profitable favour which Grose granted to his
brother officers was the permission to trade on
their own account^ and the right to draw from the
Government stores as much spirits as they pleased at
cost price. The influence of these "commissioned
hucksters " on the fortunes of the colony and incidentally
upon the aggregation of estates is one of the most curious
episodes in AustraUan history.

The use of spirits had always been a menace to the
welfare of the early settlement. PhilUp wrote in almost
his last despatch " the permission of spirits among the
civil and military may be necessary, but it will certainly
be a great evil," and had he remained longer he would

^ Phillip had allowed the Corps to freight a vessel from Africa
on their own account, when famine threatened. Grose allowed
this exception to become a rule.

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THE RUM CURRENCY

probably have retained the whole supply in his own
hands. "The passion for liquor," wrote Collins, the
Judge- Advocate, "operated like a mania. . . . Men
would do anything to obtain it . • . and while spirits
were to be had those who did extra labour refused to be
paid in money." A fortnight after Philhp had left,
Grose purchased the cargo of an American ship and served
rum as a daily ration. Convicts and emancipists alike
became Uke tigers who had tasted blood, and were insati-
able for more. Grose conferred the monopoly of the
supply upon his brother officers, who alone were allowed
either to import spirit or buy it at cost price from the
Government stores. Even distillation was forbidden, lest
it should trench upon these privileges. As a salve to the
pubhc conscience, which even in those days could not
be entirely ignored, the officers were forbidden to sell
rum to convicts. The prohibition was futile. A Calcutta
merchant named Campbell, who had a wharf upon the
northern side of Sydney Cove, sold the liquor on the
officers' accoimt, and the prohibition of sales still left the
officers free to use the spirit in payment of wages or as
purchase-money on the sale of grants. Rum, in fact,
became the only currency ; not only because it gratified
appetites, but because it was the only tangible and
immediate medium of exchange. There was no metal
money in the colony. The £1,000 of silver sent in 1792,
the few Spanish dollars brought by traders, and a
triffing copper coinage, were used for foreign purchases
and had by this time almost disappeared. Officers'
notes signed by the Paymaster, and receipts by the
storekeeper for goods sent into store, though of in-
trinsic value, lent themselves easily to forgery or fraud.
Rum for the time supphed a real commercial want
and only the officers could fill it. They used their
position as masters of the labour market, without
scruple, to develop their own grants and acquire others

7— UxES)

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

by purchase. The foundation of many large fortunes
was laid by this monopoly of what are now suburban
lands ; ^ and to this also must be attributed the over-
crowding in alle3rs and slums which still exist upon the
outskirts of the old town Umits. The later history of
land sales within city boundaries, though it shows the
same incompetent neglect of public interests, lies apart
from the main stream of Austrahan poUtics, and had no
effect upon agrarian legislation. Governor Macquarie
(1811) first disposed of the town lots by leasing them for
terms of fourteen and twenty-one years. In 1829 grants
of the fee were issued subject to a quit-rent, and leasing
was abolished. Quit rents were then released (1846,
1849 and 1851) and absolute ownership became the rule.
The loss to the State must by this time amount to many
million pounds ; for the increase in the value of city
lands, thanks to the expenditure of public money, has
been almost beyond calculation. Indeed, the owner of
an allotment in 1851 might have gone to prison for thirty
years and emerged a millionaire, to be held up to the
young by some Australian Smiles as an instance of ** Self
Help'* and "Thrift."

But it is with the administration of country lands that
the history of Australia is bound up, and in this respect
Phillip's sound principles were longer adhered to. He had
shown in England the wool which had been grown on the
natural pasture-land of the country, and the grant was
promised him that he might further extend the work of
sheep-breeding. Until McArthur returned from England
in 1805, with permission to pick 5,000 acres to be held in
perpetuity, and also to employ thirty convict shepherds,
the value of country lands for sheep growing was unsus-
pected. Governor King, in 1804, foreseeing the possibilities
of this industry, endeavoured to secure a share for all

^ AUotments within the old town boundary were not sold
until 1811.

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EARLY LAND SYSTEMS

citizens by establishing a common of pasturage in every
district, " where a number of settlements had been fixed
in small allotments/' to be held "as common lands
are held and used in that portion of Great Britain, called
En^and." This device, though it proved unsuited to
the large and migratory industry of wool-growing, was
revived, perhaps unconsciously, in the South Australian
Village Settlements in 1893.^ The pastoral industry,
indeed, rapidly overflowed the old Umits of settlement,
after Blaxland opened up the Bathurst plains and Hume
the Goulbum and ShoaUiaven districts. King's regula-
tion was a dead letter at the time, though its effects
have survived in the commons which still exist in such old
settlements as Campbelltown and Parramatta.

Governor Macquarie (1810-21) met the new situation
by a scheme of Ucenses, which authorised graziers to drive
their flocks to and fro, from pasture to pasture, — a system
suggested by Sir Joseph Banks, "upon the analogy,"
says Mr. Rogers, • " of what is still done in the Sierra
Morena and Abruzzi under survivals of the old Roman
Law." Macquarie also gave free grants of land with
great UberaUty. Whereas the whole of the grants by
his predecessors only totalled 177,500 acres, he granted
400,000 acres.' His system of licenses had the

* See p. 131. • Historical Geography, p. 115.

* Even Governor Macquaxie, though he put an end to the
career of the military rum merchant, countenanced a deal in
spirits in connection with the building of the hospital in Macquarie
Street, which is now used as Parliament House. In consideration
of finishing the building within three-and-a-half years the con-
tractors were allowed to import up to 45,000 gallons of spirits,
upon which their estimated profit was 27s. a gallon. Macquarie
erected 250 public buildings and built numerous roads and
bridges. He was the first to adopt a bold public works policy
to develop the country. He aroused strong feeling in the colony
by his almost extravagant attentions to convicts who had served
their sentences, which were much resented by the " pure merinos,"
as the free settlers were called. " Official Year Book of New
South Wales," p. 27.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

unexpected consequence of rendering itself unnecessary.
The expanses of unoccupied land were so great that
there was no need to move the flocks, and owners came
to settle themselves by long occupation in defined areas.
Personal licenses to graze thus became unsuited to the
new conditions and were abohshed in 1827. Meantime
the seeds of a future struggle were being sown. Some
far-seeing men perceived the coming conflict, and would
have set aside defined blocks for agricultural settle-
ment, and given leases of the pastoral lands subject
to the rights of the Crown. The first step was to classify
the lands. The territory was divided into nineteen coun-
ties, covering 34,501 square miles and forming the " Old
Settled Districts." Their inland boundary was
defined by a surveyed line known as "The Limit of
Settlement," beyond which no colonist might lawfully
pass. Had suitable legislation followed, the history
of Australia might have been very different. As it
was, nothing was done to alleviate the just alarm of
the pastoral hcensees, who already foresaw in imagina-
tion the resumption of their runs by the State for
agricultural purposes or on the pretext of non-fulfilment
of conditions, such as the obligation to cultivate 120
acres, and maintain thirty convicts for each 2,000
acres, which, suitable enough to the mixed farming of
the coimty of Cumberland or Camden, had become
ludicrously inappropriate to grazing areas. The pastoral-
ists accordingly demanded the right to purchase their
holdings.

Permission was conceded in 1825. Sales were by
private tender at an upset price of 5s. per acre, and of a
maximum area of 5,000 acres. Purchases were supple-
mented by free grants such as had long been made to
favoured individuals. Five years later (1831) free grants
ceased and auction sales replaced sales by tender. The
upset price was 5s., raised in 1839, under Wakefieldian

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THE EXPLORERS

influence to 12s. and in 1842 to £1. Unsold portions
might be taken at the upset price. The stimulus to
alienation was very great.

Still the problem was unsolved. It presented a new
face. The very strengthening of the position of the
pastoralists in the Old Settled Districts by these facilities
for purchase, hmited the opportunities of new-comers,
who were driven, willy-nilly, across the Line of
Settlement. There was no rductance to embark on this
adventurous passage. True, the pioneers went in
advance of law, but it was for the law to follow them,
not for them to wait. The profits were great and the
fascination of exploring even greater. The year 1831
inaugurated what is, properly speaking, the first
" squatters' " period in AustraUan history. Mr. George
Ranken ^ thus depicts the situation : " The population
was expanding, and the sheep and cattle were increasing
still faster. . . . Impelled by a conamon impulse the
pioneers headed for the boundary. . . Shortly they were
pouring across the frontier in scores, north, south and
west. In the course of a 'couple of years himdreds of
adventurous pioneers had crossed the boundary. The
Governor could not have prevented this, because all
the police and military in Australia could not have
guarded an open frontier 500 miles in length." These
trespassers, — "a Bedouin Conunonwealth in the inland
grass country " — soon acquired cohesion and a name.
They called themselves "squatters," after the outlaws
who infested the inland frontiers of America. Governor
Bourke took alarm, and passed an Ordinance in 1833
" to prevent the unauthorised occupation of Crown Lands
being considered as giving a title thereto. Still the move-
ment was not stayed, and in 1837 the situation was
legaUsed by admitting the right to graze on payment ol

I " Our Wasted Heritage," by George Ranken and quoted by
Epps, '■' Land Systems of Australia," p. 15.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

a license fee and the appointment of a body of police to
maintain the law in the outside districts. This measure
closes the first epoch of agrarian legislation, as it closes
the first epoch of Australian History.

For Austraha was now emerging from her tutelage.
Her great needs then, as to-day, were capital and popula-
tion ; and both were on the way. Bigge's Report (1823)
had opened the eyes of EngUsh capitalists to the richness
of the pastoral industry, and capitalists brought free
labour into the colony, either at their own cost or aided
by bounties. The great Land Companies^ (" AustraUan
Agricultural Company " (1824) : " Van Diemen*s Land
Company " (1825) : " South AustraUan Company "
(1837) led the way ; and half the proceeds of the land
sales were earmarked in England for the same object.
Australia was also being helped by a change of sentiment
in England. Under the influence of the economists and
various Poor Law reports (1817, 1822, 1824) colonisation
became popular. It obviously diminished over-popula-
tion, ergOy it was a cure for poverty. Finally, came
a movement against transportation, which was con-
demned root and branch by a Parliamentary Committee

^ The A. A. and Van Diemen's Land Companies were formed
by Private Acts of Parliament to acquire, the one a million acres
round Newcastle and on the Liverpool plains, the other half-a-
million acres in the north-west comer of Tasmania. Their
prospectuses are a curious medley of philanthropy and business.
M'Arthur, who pulled the strings, knew his public. The declared
objects were (among others) to import " Germans, Swiss and
French in order to cultivate vines/' Quakers and Moravians in
order to inculcate industrious and moral habits, and " females *'
for purposes which were not particularised. In the final draft
of tihie A. A. Company's prospectus " useful settlers " were
substituted for " Quakers and Moravians," and the Company
proposed to " assist the immigration of useful male and female
settlers." The tenure of both Companies was Phillip's old
system of conditions and quit-rent. The former, as every-
one knows, were not enforced, the latter were soon released.
(See Rogers' "Historical Geography," p. 111.)

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A WISE DISCRETION

in 1838. ^ It was, however, the land sales which proved
the most effective instrument in the promotion of
immigration.

The waste lands of a colony have always been regarded
in English law as part of the Crown demesne, which could
only be dealt with by the local authorities by express
percussion. Thus, although the Legislative Council of
New South Wales had been given control of taxation
in 1828, it had no voice in the disposition of the proceeds
of Crown Lands. These, in accordance with the pre-
vailing theory, were used by the Crown in trust for the
colony, for internal improvements and for promoting
immigration. Free passages were given out of this
fund and bounties paid to employers who imported
labour. There was risk that this would lead to the
imloading of paupers upon AustraUa by hard-pressed
Boards of Guardians in England, and that the recipients of
bounties would be careless of the quality of their imports.
Austraha, however, was well served by the English
authorities, who exercised a wise discretion in the selection
of inmiigrants.

The increase of immigration under these combined
influences was striking and immediate. During the six
years, 1821-7, there had only been 600 free immigrants.
From 1828-31 there were 1,500 ; and for the five years,
1832-7, 3,400. In 1838, when immigration to Canada was
checked by the rebellion, 14,000 free immigrants entered
Australia. Then came 15,000 in the two years, 1839-40,
and 32,600 in 1841.

The pace was quick but not, at first, excessive.

^ The assignment of convict servants ceased in 1838. There
was no transportation to New South Wales after 1 840. Attempts
were subsequently made to found settlements for prisoners
who were pardoned on condition of perpetual exile. The best
known of tiliese attempts was Ihe disastrous expedition to Port
Essington, which was promoted by Mr. Gladstone during his
Secretaryship for the Colonies.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Prosperity, however, begat over-confidence, and the colony
yielded to a frenzy of gambUng, which was stimulated
by the loans of English investors and by the ever-growing
balances of the Government account. Land being the
only outlet for investment, land values rose beyond all
reasonable discount of future requirements, until the
inevitable crash in the forties put an end to both land-sales
and immigration.

It is outside the scope of this volume to describe the
incidents of this commercial crisis, which are vividly
portrayed in Mr. Tregarther's volume on Austraha in
" The Story of the Nations " series. It is enough to note
that this era of inflation marked an increase in the number
of absentee owners, and introduced the new variety,
who live in England either on their profits as owners
or their interest as mortgagees. It also exposed the
futility of the Wakefidd scheme of colonisation,
which must now be shortly explained, because it came
upon the scene during this period as a new influence
upon land legislation.

The Wakefield Theory of Colonisation and
THE Agrarian War

During the second quarter of the nineteenth century
England was in the grip of the pedant. The backwash
of the French Revolution had brought theorists into
favour and, for the first time since the days of the
Long Parliament, the policy of England was directed by
absolute ideas, which ignored both history and facts.
The special object of veneration was the pseudo-science of
PoUtical Economy, which taught the gospel of regenera-
tion by greed. While England was in this temper
I Edward Gibbon Wakefield, whose name deserves to
J be remembered by all Imperialists with gratitude, — ^for
' by his prompting Lord Durham dispatched the
expedition which secured New Zealand, — ^propounded an

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COLONISATION

elaborate theory of colonisation, which, although it bore
no relation to any proved facts, was accepted by other
theorists as a scientific truth. It is difficult now to under-
stand the enthusiasm which this theory created. Its
central point was that lands should be sold at a high
price and the proceeds used to bring out labourers
was said that this was the intention of the auction sales of
1831, which excited alarm among Austrahan pastorahsts
and led them to beheve that the Act of 1831 was but the
prelude to a futiure interference with their industry.
Indeed, one of the chief causes of the dispersion of pastor-
alists after 1829 beyond the " Limit of Settlement "
was a fear lest Waicefield's ideal of a comparatively
closely populated country, consisting of the three classes
of proprietors, yeomen and peasants, was about to be
estabhshed in Australia.^ There was, indeed some
danger. Governor Bourke endeavoured to damp the
illusions of the Colonial Office by a douche of cold fact,
and wrote to Lord Glenelg that already the fear of the
Wakefield S3^tem had driven settlers into the back
country. He thus explained why the theory wotild
never work in Austraha, for "it is only by a free
range over the wide expanse of native herbage which
the colony affords that the production of wool can
be upheld. The colonist must otherwise restrain the
increase in his flocks or endeavour to raise artificial
food." We shall have occasion to see the Wakefield
theory once again exposed by facts in the case of South
Australia.

The twenty years which followed the great crisis of
1841-4 were the hey-day of the pastoral industry, and
saw a struggle for supremacy between the squatter and
the Crown, which left many traces in subsequent legisla-
tion. The struggle began with the crisis. The squatters

^ A " Colonisation Society " was formed in London in 1831
to further the adoption of Wakefield's views.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

held that it was caused by raising the minimum price
of land to twenty shillings. Sir George Gipps, one of
the few Governors of real distinction, who hdd office
before responsible government,^ took the other view,
that land sales had been unduly stimulated by loans.*
"The colonists* cure was to repeal the Act of 1842;
Gipps' cure was to pay debts." • Lord Stanley, at the
Colonial Office, backed Gipps ; but the " pohtical
economists " had got the ear of the permanent officials.
In 1842 an Act of the Imperial Parhament prohibited
free grants, confirmed the practice of auction sales, and
raised the minimum price to twenty shillings an acre.
The proceeds were to be used in opening up new blocks
of land for auction sale. This was the Wakefield
doctrine in excelsis. But once more the situation
refused to be controlled by a theory. Land-sales ceased
from the scarcity of ready money and the unwiUingness
of EngUsh lenders, and the Act was* repealed in 1864
almost before it became operative.

In the meantime, to the vexation of the Colonial
Office, the expansion of the pastoral industry continued
and proved profitable. It needed, as Gipps saw, not
prevention, but cdntrol. In 1843 he called for a Report
from the Commissioners of Lands as to the best metiiod
of retaining for the Crown its title to the waste lands
without injury to the occupiers. The terms of this
reference expose the difficulties of the situation. The
Commissioners were to " consider maturely and report

^ " King and Gipps were the only financiers whom New South
Wales had seen . . . Gipps was unsympathetic towards repre-
sentative institutions, and those brilliant exponents of the new
democracy — ^Lowe, Wentworth and Lang — ^never grasped the
economic, agrarian or financial problems of the day with half his
clearness, so he was hated more than ever, because he was right
and they were ^ong in matters requiring mind." Rogers,
p. 72-8.

■ Rogers, p. 119.

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A STORMY PERIOD

as to assimilating licenses to leases, the quantity of land
which would suffice for 500 head of cattle or 5,000 sheep,
and the limitation of runs, for each of which a separate
license was to be taken, the encouragement of cultivation
by giving an occupier a kind of right to purchase a portion
of his run or otherwise, or to obtain secure possession
for a term of years after occupation as tenant-at-will for
a fixed term — say for five or seven years — and the pre-
vention of irregular transfers or sales which are occurring
frequently without the sanction or the knowledge of the
Government." On receipt of this Report, Gipps issued
a Regulation which required every pastoral licensee to
purchase 320 acres of his holding at twenty shiUings an
acre, and gave in return eight years' undisturbed possession.
Each successive purchase of 320 acres was to act as a
renewal of an eight years' lease. The Reform was wisely
conceived, but aroused democratic clamour, because
it had been promulgated without the consent of the
Legislative Council. The squatters formed a " Pastoral
Association " and expressed their views ^ by a Committee
of the Council (1844). This Committee modestly
demanded that the squatters should hold their lands
for ever at a nominal Ucense fee anU that quit-rents
should be aboUshed ! Gipps soon after left the colony
(July, 1846). He had turned the deficits into sur-
pluses by compelling payment of Ucense fees and quit-
rents ; he had seen the exports exceed the imports as
the foreign loans were repaid ; and he knew that land-
sales would recover. Under his rule Austraha was
precipitated into manhood. " Australian extension had
raised," Mr. Rogers acutely remarks, "three poUtical
storms, — a, storm over convicts, a land storm, and a trade
storm, — ^which AustraUans alone could allay, and which
forced Australians to think for themselves either as a
nation or as nations."

* " Historical Geography," p. 120.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The Orders in Council of 1847

The squatters now changed the scene of the war to
London, where a Liberal Secretary of State (Earl Grey)
had succeeded Lord Stanley and there won for themselves
the rights which Gipps had tried in vain to conserve for
the pubhc. A new Act of Parliament allowed leases to be
granted, not exceeding fourteen years, imder regulations
to be afterwards drafted. This was, indeed, a setting of the
cats to watch the cream, for regulations, if a Governor
be phable, could be administered with elasticity. They
were comprised in Orders in Council, which reached the
colony in 1847, and are the foundation-stone upon which
every Austrahan Land Act has since been built.

They divided the lands of the colony into three divi-
sions, — the settled, intermediate and unsettled, — ^in which
squatters could obtain leases for one, eight, or fourteen
years respectively, at a rental determined in the two
former divisions by the carrying capacity of the land and
in the intermediate and unsettled districts by pubUc
tender. A pre-emptive right was given to purchase 160
acres in the settled and 640 acres in the intermediate
district at £1 an acre, and it was provided that during
the continuance of any lease of lands occupied as a run,
no one but the lessee could purchase any part of it.
Sales by auction were continued. By this means a
squatter got a fixed tenure for a long term and the
right to purchase any part of his holding at any time
at twenty shillings an acre, while at the expiration of
his term he had a pre-emptive right over the whole or
any part of it.

These Orders in Council mark the supremacy of the
squatting interest. The system of tendering led imme-
diately to grave abuses. There being no limit to the
number of tenders which might be put in, bona fide
squatters were exposed to blackmail by bogus competitions,

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THE SOCIAL WAR

and to grave risks from the dishonesty of the officials who
were charged mth examining and reporting upon tenders.

The purchase clauses of the Orders of Council gave
an easy means of putting together huge estates. Not
requiring any purchase to be in one block, they allowed
a squatter to "pick out the eyes of his run," and by
dotting it with freeholds at vrater-courses, on river
frontages or at other strategic positions, to render the
surrounding land useless to anybody but himself. " There
was then placed," saj^ Mr. Epps^ "in the hands of a
comparatively few men a power fraught with incalculable
danger to generations yet unborn. Amongst the evils
brought to the boom at this time, and which have
since grown to the full development of matiuity, was an
absentee landlordism ; the locking up of land in the
hands of a few which might have carried a population
a hundredfold larger than its existing occupiers, and
which would have doubled its productive power; an
unnecessary antagonism between agriculturists and pastor-
alists : and, grossest of all, a highly immoral tendency
which has since had a most pernicious effect both on
the private and pubHc Ufe of the people."

The truth of these words will be fully illustrated in
the recital of the " Social War " which soon broke out
between the squatters and the people.

The Squatters and the People

The squatting party did not use its surprising victory
with moderation. The Orders in Council confirmed
the sheep-lords in possession of their principalities ; yet
they were not content. They had obtained the three
" F's " of the Memorial of the Pastoral Association, —
fair {i.e, pepper-corn) rent, free sales, and fixity of tenure,
— ^but they wanted the fee simple. They had ^every
reason to expect a satisfaction of this desire. The

» " The Land System of Australia," p. 23.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Orders gave a right, during the period of their lease, to

purchase, practically as they pleased, any portion of

their huge holdings, and a pre-emptive right to buy the

unsold portions when their term expired. But long

before their leases had run out, the antagonism of the

public to the squatting dass had become as strong and

unreasonable as had been the feeling in its favour during

the contest with Gipps. All classes, — sons of settlers,

immigrants, disappointed gold-seekers, — ^wanted land,

and the best land was occupied by sheep. After the

grant of responsible government (1856) the battle-ground

inevitably shifted to the hustings. " Free Selection

before Survey " was an obvious poUtical " cry," and not

so meaningless as most. After one defeat Mr. John

Robertson obtained a clear mandate from the electors

to make a trial of this means of " getting back the people's

birthright." The panacea was conditional purchase,

on credit, without competition, of limited areas of land.

But the land, which was to be thus selected by the yeomen

dass, was simultaneously, but by another Act (the

Crown Lands Occupation Act, 23 Vic, No. 2), assigned

under lease to another dass, — ^the pastoralists. The

leases were for one year in the settled, and five years

in the intermediate and unsettled districts ; but as every

leasehold was open tosdection, the tenure in reaUty was

weekly, — ^that is to say, from Thursday to Thursday, —

Thursday being the day when Crown Lands Agents

recdved applications from selectors. " The policy," say

Messrs. Morris and Ranken in a Report of an Inquiry

into the State of the Public Lands and the Operation of

the Land Laws made by them as Royal Commissioners

in 1883,^ "offered for sale to one class of occupants the

^ Leg. Coundl papers. C. 66-a, 1883. This report contains
full information on the war whidi was waged for thirty years
between the sdector and the pastoralist. It is one of the most
instructive and interesting documents ever published by an
Australian Government.

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DESPERATE REMEDIES

same land which was simultaneously assigned imder

lease to another class. There was no partition of the soil

to provide for both classes. There was abundant space

to satisfy aU reasonable wants then, as there is yet (1883) ;

but this self-evident method of meeting the requirement

was not adopted. Thus four separate forms of tenure

were instituted by law, each authorising the occupation

of the same ground. The avowed purpose of the Act

was to substitute a large number of yeomen farmers

for the squatter, and this was to be effected by each

individual selector appropriating such portion of the

squatting leasehold as he might choose. . . Thus, a

squattage, though a holding recognised by law, could be

obUterated at any time if a sufEicient number of selectors

wanted the land." ^ The remedy was desperate, but so

was the disease. A Return obtained by Gipps in 1845

showed that foiu: squatters then occupied between them

7,750,460 acres, and that the fifty-six largest holders

occupied 12,110 square miles, and the fifty-six smallest

677 square miles, in what is now the Central Division of

New South Wales. The tendency to concentration

had increased and not diminished since that date, and

protective purchases of picked spots had rendered huge

areas useless to any but the run holder.

^ The main provisions of the Act (Crown Lands Alienation
Act, 23 Vic, No. 1), continue to this day in the Land Legislation
of every State. It provided, that any person might select from
40 to 320 acres (raised to 640 acres in 1875) of any Crown lands
{i,e. lands not alienated in fee as town or suburban or reserved
lands) at a fixed price of £1 an acre, by paying a deposit, which
at first was 5s. per acre, but has been reduced by later Acts to Is.,
and paying the balance by annual instalments which later legisla-
tion allowed to be indefinitely delayed if interest were paid.
The selector had to reside a fixed number of years, at first three,
now five, and efiect improvements to the value of £\ per acre.
All owners of selected or purchased lands were allowed " pre-
leases," $.«., a pre-emptive right to lease adjoining land to the
extent of three times their freehold. Later Acts contain many
complicated provisions to enable a selector to get grazing righ^
over a sufficient area to maintain himself and family.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

In the settled districts, near the coast, the Free Sdec-
tion Act has justified the expectations of its sponsor.
There the squatter had akeady a secured freehold and
only his adjacent grazing right was open to selection.
This, though useful to him, was not necessary ; and he
was thus not under the stringent influences which
urged the lessee outside this district to a desperate
defence against selection. '* The latter had to face the
law of 1861, with his whole station hable to be confiscated,
excepting such pre-emptive portions as he might have
acquired under the Orders in Council. The two classes
of properties were thus under totally different conditions.
The owner of the first, safe in his grant, when he tried
to get more land, acted solely from the instinct of acquisi-
tion, and went to no extreme or imprudent length ; the
last acted under the not ill-founded conviction that he
• had to fight for his Ufe.' " ^ The " Settled Districts "
too, were largely a "poor man's country," where good
land and proximity to markets made small farming
profitable. The selector seldom wanted to acquire his
whole square mile and squatters did not need unwieldy
areas.

The case was very different in the intermediate dis-
tricts. There all the important interests of the colony
were arrayed against settlement. The lands under
pastoral occupation were no longer prin^tive wastes.
Many of them had been held continuously for years,
under licenses, before the Orders in Council granted
fourteen years' leases ; and a steady progress had been
made in improving their carrjdng capacity by means of
costly improvements, effected with the money of
the banks or mortgage companies, which now saw
their security about to be destroyed. The Act of
1861 could not obliterate the financial and business
interests concerned in squattages. "Squatting as a

* Morris and Ranken's Report, p. 7.

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"A RIFLE AND A HARNESS CASK"

productive enterprise," say Messrs. Morris and Ranken,
'*had been as it were cemented with the commerce
and banking of the colony. In reality, so far from
the squatter being a mere nomad or trespasser —
as politicians sometimes urged — ^and his work a mere
abuse of the pubUc estate, he was the chief producer
in the community, and was canying on the principal
industry of the colony in the way that the law
permitted. . . . These stations had a substantial value
in a national sense. No more destructive scheme could
be devised for their injury as securities, than the
law that gave every man the right to appropriate
where he chose a portion of the squatting lands ; and
there was no consequence more certain than that the
conservators of the national earnings, the banks, would
in their own interests, aid the lessees in defence against
selection." Money was poured out like water to secure
the runs. Auction purchase was the favourite weapon.
In one case, mentioned by Morris and Ranken, the pur-
chase of 27,000 acres, in forty-acre blocks, scattered
broadcast over the run, effectually secured an area of
258,000 acres. " It is impossible," remarked the Com-
missioners, ** not to admire the skill displayed in letting
these blocks fall exactly where they were wanted. No
general ever posted his troops in more impregnable
positions." Did a selector once gain a footing he could
be harassed by actions of trespass, if he could not be so
efifectivdy henmied in by purchases that he would be
compelled to sell to the squatter upon any terms. Some
selectors, however, made a business of blackmail and
selected in order to be bought out, living meantime upon
the squatter's sheep. A ''rifle and a harness cask,"
said one injudicious member of the House of Assembly,
*' is all the capital a free selector needs." Others selected
for the purpose of establishing sly grog shops ; or watched
until the lessees began to excavate tanks and then,

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

before £40 had been expended,^ selected the ground
behind their back. But the number of these robbers
was small in comparison with the great number of honest
and hard-working men, who needed land, and were
frustrated by chicanery and fraud. Such grievances are
not forgotten even in a second generation, and still inspire
the bitter feelings against the squatter class.

One of the weapons used most freely in this social war
was *^ dunmi3dng,'' i.e., the selection of land by persons
friendly to the run, who would sell out to the squatter
when he had completed the conditions. The law made
this a criminal offence, whereas the bush code considered
it an act of duty towards a friend. The selector must make
oath on appUcation, that he is selecting only in his own
interest and not for another. The oath is made without
compunction by men who pay the deposit with money
advanced by the station, knowing that the improve-
ments will be paid for from the same source, and that they
themselves will sell out for a lump sum directly the
law permits. Everyone in the district knows of these
proceedings, but condones the perjury. Dumm3dng is
almost universal, but only one person has been punished
for the "misdemeanour,** and that upon his own con-
fession. This is probably the worst effect of the Act of
1861. Besides dividing the rural population into two
hostile camps it has, in the words of the Royal Com-
mission already mentioned, " tarnished the personal
virtues of veracity and honourable dealing by the daily
habit of intrigue, by the practice of evading the law, and
by declarations in defiance of fact universally made. It
is in evidence that self-interest has created a laxity of
conscience in all matters connected with the Land Laws,

^ Land improved to ;f 40 a section was exempted from selection.
Bogus improvements certified to by corrupt Inspectors was a
common method of securing a run. In one instance a house on
wheels did duty as " the improvements " on many sections.

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THE CONFLICT CONTINUED

and that the stain attaches to men of all classes and all
degrees." ^

Nor was the Act a success in settling population on the
land, except as has been pointed out, in the Settled
District. Of the 62,085 apphcations for residential
selections, which had been made under the Act of 1861
up to 1883, not more than 20,000 represented real settle-
ment. The balance had been transfeited to the squatter
and helped to swell the eighty freehold estates of 40,000
to 300,000 acres which were put together between 1861-
1883. It will be seen that later legislation has not
produced a more satisfactory result.

The Act of 1884 (amended 1889) made a new division of
New South Wales into Eastern, Central, and Western
Divisions, and gave squatters in the former two divisions,
renewable leases of half their runs. This leasehold area was
closed to selection during the currency of the lease ; the
other half — " resumed area " — ^remained open. This was
but a patch on the old garment, though it covered half
of the worn-out place, for the conflict between squatter
and selector continued as before, over an area dimin-
ished by one-half. The administration of the lands was
decentralised by these Acts and entrusted to Local
Boards, presided over by a nominee of the Crown and
consisting of two other members, one representing the
squatting and the other the selector's interest. This
local machinery has worked well. Still the aim of all
this legislation was not achieved, and the large estates
increased quicker than settlement. From 1895 onwards
various tenures have been introduced, too complex for
description in this volume, but all directed to securing
a " hving area " for the small settler and by strict pro-
visions as to residence and improvements preventing
ahenation. There is a marked tendency to favoiu: the
leasing of Crown Lands in small areas for long periods.

» Report, p. 29.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The most striking tenure is the Homestead Selection.
Lands are measured into blocks, each large enough for
one family. They must be taken as measured up to 1,280
acres. Additional holdings may be acquired, not neces-
sarily adjoining the original holding, sufficient in the
opinion of the Land Board for the maintenance of the
appUcant's family in average seasons and conditions.
The tenure is freehold subject to a perpetual residence
and perpetual rent, assessed every ten years on the
unimproved capital value of the land. Transfer is not
permitted during the first five years, and each successive
transferee is required to live on the land while he holds it.
Tenant-right is given in improvements, and the holding
is protected against seizure under any legal process.
Holders of conditional purchases can convert their
holdings into Homestead Selections.

" Improvement Leases " also deserve notice. They
are granted for twenty-eight years of an area not ex-
ceeding 20,480 acres of "inferior land" at an annual
rent. During the last year of the lease the lessee may
convert into a Homestead Selection of 640 acres for a
dwelling-house.

The Western Division is administered separatdy by
a Board of three Conmiissioners, and is held on forty-two
year leases reappraisable every ten years and not less
than 2s. 6d. per square mile or more than 7d. a sheep on
the determined carrying capacity of the run. Auction
sales have been limited to 200,000 acres per annum.

The land legislation of Victoria, Queensland, and
Tasmania has followed the same lines as that of New
South Wales, and practically the same form of conditional
occupation with deferred pa3nnents is in force. The feuds
between selector and squatter have not, however, been so
bitter in any of these three States, — in Victoria, because
the best land had been already acquired by purchase
before free selection was introduced (compare the settled

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LAND SYSTEMS

districts of New South Wales, sup. p. 112) : in Queens-
land the area is sufficiently large for both, and their
interests do not dash in the pastoral country : in Tas-
mania, because the only land not purchased was suitable
for small holdings. In all these States, however, the best
lands are classified or surveyed before selection is allowed
or else limits are set beyond which selection is inadmis-
sible. The mischief of indiscriminate selection before
survey has thus been avoided. The land sj^tems of
South Australia and Western Australia demand separate
notice.

The Wakefield Experiment^ in South Australia

South Australia was established to carry into effect the
theories of colonisation which were so persistently
expounded by Gibbon Wakefield, of whom mention
has already been made. In order that the colony
should be self-supporting from the start, the Commis-
sioners entrusted with its foundation were to sell £35,000
worth of land and raise a guarantee fund of £20,000.
The land was to be sold in sections of eighty acres at
£1 an acre, with a town allotment added, making the
total cost £81. The Act authorising the venture was
passed on August 14th, 1834, but by December 2, 1835,
not more than £26,000 worth of land had been sold,
and the price was reduced to twelve shillings an acre.
One of the Commissioners had by that date negotiated a
loan of £30,000 at ten per cent. The Commissioners,
though enthusiasts, were men of business. Two or three of
them, including Mr. George Fife Angas, conceived the idea
of financing the scheme by means of a " South Australian
Company." They made up the balance of the purchase-
money, bu3dng from £9,000 to £10,000 worth of land at

^ The materials for the history of the foundation of South
Australia are to be found in Mr. John Blacket's " Early History
of South Australia/' which has been freely drawn upon.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

twelve shillings an acre and sold this to the Company
for a pound. The required money having been thus
obtained, the pioneers left England, after a fareweU
meeting in Exeter Hall to found " the Holy City *' ^ in
the southern hemisphere. They reached land on July 27,
1836 ; but, as Colonel Light, who was to fix the site of
the capital and lay it out, did not arrive for a month later
or come to a decision hurriedly, the Wakefield doctrines
could not be put into force immediately. The theorist had
declared that, if the price of land was fixed sufficiently
high and the proceeds spent on immigration, there would
be a constant supply of hired labour for the cultivation of
the land. The colonists found that large areas of land were
being bought for speculative purposes ; and that the pro-
ceeds of the sales, instead of being employed on repro-
ductive public works, were spent in bringing out new
mouths to feed. The immigrants were not capitalists ; and
men and women without means could do better on their
own allotments than by working for others. Later, in 1840,
when the British Government advanced the Commis-
sioners £200,000, the situation became more puzzling —
to the theorist. It then became more profitable to work
for wages than to cultivate the soil ; and men, who should
have been growing wheat, were employed in building
public offices ! " Immigrants keep pouring in," com-
plains '"a gentleman from Adelaide," in the London
Times, and yet the increase of population seemed but
to increase the rate of wages. In truth, the colony was
living on its borrowed capital. The inevitable result
followed. The Governor's drafts on England were dis-
honoured and but for' the fortunate discovery of copper
(1842) and other minerals the colony must have been
abandoned. The Wakefi eld system had proved a
mere delusion. If new settlers have capital they can
employ it most profitably on the land. In Austraha the
^ Adelaide is so called by reason of the number of its churches.

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<

H
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FAILURE OF THE EXPERIMENT

profitable uses of land required then, and in many parts
requires still, a large area. But, if the upset price of
land be fixed unduly high, either the capital of the
employer is diminished or his means of giving employ-
ment are straitened. If, on the other hand, the inmii-
grants, as is usual, are people of httle means, what becomes
of the nicely-graded society of landlords, yeomen, and
labourers, which the Wakefield scheme was guaranteed
to reproduce in a yoimg country ? In South AustraUa
the people hung about the city and refused to cultivate
their lands, in spite of the utmost efforts at compulsion
of Governor Gawler (October, 1838 — May, 1841). Even
persons who were willing to go upon their lands were
delayed by the difficulties of survey. *

The lands at this time were disposed of by sealed
tender at a fixed minimum of 12s. per section, which
was soon raised to 20s. By 1843, 323,000 acres had
been sold by this method. When the colony had come
through the crisis, thanks to the discovery of copper,
the lands came under Earl Grey's Waste Lands Act of
1846, which brought such disaster to New South Wales.
The Governor was of a different stamp to Sir Charles
Fitzroy, who had presided in New South Wales over the
administration of the same Act, and his advisers were
not squatters. The colony was divided into districts

^ " It was innocently believed that these pioneers would at
once settle down into an old country groove, with distinct lines
of demarcation between the various professions and occupations ;
but the site of the capital city having been decided upon, the
people, instead of cultivating the available land, formed them-
selves into a town community and speculated in town lots
which rose rapidly in value. Few seemed to think of the future.
.... When the inevitable smash came, two years later, most
of those who had arrived in the colony with considerable means
were penniless, everything having been spent in the cost of
living." (Epps' " Land Systems of Australia," p. 118.)

There were not wanting critics to expose the fallacy of Wake-
field's proposal. The Times, for instance, from the first, attacked
the scheme with ridicule and argument.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

as the Act required. The method of disposing of land
by tender was not allowed in the settled districts, which
already enjoyed Local Government. Outside of "the
hundreds," lands were leased for fourteen years at
rates varying from 10s. to £1 per square mile. Thus
far the administration of the Act was not different from
that in New South Wales. But Sir Henry Young held
firmly to Gipps' doctrine that the rights of the Crown in
the waste lands ought to be preserved. Accordingly
every lease in South Australia reserved " the right of
the Governor at any time to sell, reserve or otherwise
dispose of the whole or any part of the land so depastured ** ;
no pre-emptive right was given to the lessee ; he could
claim neither renewal or compensation for improvements ;
and as the march of population brought any portion of
a lease within "a hundred" it automatically ceased
to be part of the run. The lessees were content to rely
on the good faith of the Crown not to exercise these
powers arbitrarily to their detriment. One of the first
Acts of the first elected Parliament (1856) was to provide
for the offering of land in 640-acre blocks, which could
not be put up to auction until after survey. The practice
hitherto had been to dispose of lands only by sale for
cash, either at auction or by tender. This, while advan-
tageous to the revenue, was felt to be a hindrance to small
settlers, and in 1869 Strangway's Act introduced sales
on four years' credit (extended to five in 1870), coupled
with a condition of residence. Purchase before survey
was not allowed. The Land Act of 1872 allowed selection
inside of an imaginary line, which was supposed to sepa-
rate the country of good from the country of insufficient
rainfall. After 1874 this limit was removed. Still no
selection was permitted until after survey. Yet even these
precautions did not stop the aggregation of large estates.
The absence of restriction on the number of credit pur-
chases which one man might make, and the allowance of

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such purchases in areas unsuitable for agriculture gave
the monied men, with the aid of the banks, the opportu-
nity they needed. At the same time bad seasons brought
failure to those whom no warning would deter from
credit purchases in lands which lay beyond the Umit of
reUable rainfall. ParUament granted reUef to these
imfortunates from time to time by remitting their pay-
ments, and Ministry after Ministry attempted to devise
a tenure which would be suitable to the hard conditions. ^
The laws were consoUdated in 1903. The S3^tem difiers
from that of the eastern States in not recognising con-
ditional purchase. The favourite tenures are leasehold,
either perpetual, with periodic reappraisements, or with
a right to purchase. Auction sales are practically
confined to town and suburban lands. That the land
laws have worked with less friction in South AustraUa
than elsewhere is partly due to the character of the soil,
which, while in parts suitable for wheat-growing and
involving no expense in making ready for the plough, is,
in the greater part of the State, owing to the irregular
rainfall, more suited to pastoral occupation. Credit,
however, must not be refused to those pohtical leaders
who had the good sense to avoid the mistakes of other
colonies and the courage to protect the public interest.

An Immigration Policy

Western AustraUa was " the horrible example " of the
Wakefield doctrinaires, who, eight years later, founded
South Australia, warned by these failures. Founded
hurriedly in 1829, in order to anticipate the French, the
land S3^tem of the new colony was crude and unintel-
ligent. Free grants of immense areas were given to the
founders on the understanding that they would introduce

^ Detailed information on the early disposal of Crown Lands
is contained in a Report by the then Surveyor-General, Mr. G.
W. Goyder. which was published as Parliamentary Paper, No. 60,
of 1890. The writer has made free use of Mr. Epps' Summary.

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immigrants at their own expense. Captain Stirling, the
first administrator, was given 100,000 acres, and Mf.
Peel, the leading spirit in the enterprise, 250,000 acres,
in return for which he undertook to bring out 400 settlers.
Others were treated with equal liberahty. The whole
area granted was a miUion-and-a-half acres, and as every
grant was marked off at the Colonial Office from the
boundary of the proposed site of the capital dty, the only
land available for new comers lay outside the boundaries
of an irregular parallelogram, at a great distance from the
city and the port. Even when tiiey were thus planted
in the wilderness, settlers were so scattered that they
lost one another, and immigrants brought out to work
could not find their employers. Still hope made
promises. Grants of land were offered freely in
London to intending settlers at the rate of forty
acres for every ^ of capital, and 200 for every labourer
introduced into the colony. By 1830 nearly 1,800
immigrants had landed. '* They camped in sight of the
shipping and remained there ; for they could do nothing
else. The farming implements lay on the beach, and the
families, who had come to form the society of the place,
attracted by the fictions of the pamphleteers, found that
they were turned adrift without the necessaries of life
on the edge of a wilderness. There was neither live-
stock nor any other means of turning the soil to inrnie-
diate use. Scenes of destitution followed. Young ladies
spent their tinle catching fish as they saw the black
" gins " do, to save their parents and themselves from
starvation. Numbers left in despair. The others
forged slowly ahead. At every turn, however, progress
was delayed by the free grants. In 1832 the Colonial
Office adopted the New South Wales method of selling
land by auction at the upset price of five shillings an
acre. "The immediate result," reported a Parlia-
mentary Committee in 1838, " was a sudden and almost

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total stop to emigration. From that time up to the
present (1838) few people have arrived except those that
have come to join their friends or have been in some way
connected with the place.*' * Up to 1838 only 20,663
acres had been sold by auction. Lord Glenelg tried to
tempt labourers by free grants to all who would pay their
own passage, and a Western Austrahan Company formed
(1838) on the model of the South Australian, sold 100
acre lots at £1 per acre. When the purchasers reached
the colony they found the market price was 2s. 6d. —
so eager were the first grantees to sell ! Nothing, how-
ever, convinced the theorists, and, under Wakefieldian
influence, the upset price was raised to 12s. in 1839 and
to 20s. in 1840. Naturally this put a stop to all sales
of land except by private owners. After the lands had
been divided into towns, suburban and country (1843)
they became subject to Lord Grey's Waste Lands Act of
1846. The merit of this measure was its elasticity. It
could be perverted, as in New South Wales, to the profit
of one class, but it could also, as in South Australia,
be used to protect the pubhc. Everything depended
on the Regulations. In 1849 Lord Grey took the
wise step of referring these to a G)mmittee of leading
men in tiie colony before they were promulgated. There
was a division of opinion. All, however, agreed in favour
of " tillage leases " and a division of the colony into
agricultural and pastoral districts. The suggestions were
accepted and the country divided into A lands and B lands.
The latter were open to lease for pastoral purposes for
a term of eight years at a rental of £S per 1,(X)0 acres and
10s. per 1,(X)0 for every additional area of that size.
The A lands were leased in amounts not exceeding 320
acres at Is. an acre per annum for eight years, and subject
to conditions as to cultivation. The B lands were leased
for pasture purposes in larger areas. The tillage leases
» Quoted by Epps' " Land System of Australia," p. 105.

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were for many years a notable feature in the land s}^tem
of Western Australia. The details of this measure were
modified, without afiEecting its principles, in 1864, and
special inducements were offered to pastoralists to stock
the northern portion of the colony. In 1898, eight years
after the colony had been granted responsible government,
it adopted the principle still in force, of free selection before
survey, in pursuance of its pohcy of offering settlers greater
facilities than those which were offered in any other state.
Thus land can be acquired by conditional purchase,
either for agriculture or grazing, either with or without
residence, and either on credit or for cash. Homestead
farms of 160 acres are granted free to any person, who
does not already own 100 acres in the colony. This
provision is proving a great attraction to immigrants
both from England and the eastern States. A lease for
pastoral purposes does not put the land beyond the reach
of an intending settler, but, as in New South Wales
before 1884, all such leases are open to selection. The
mischief of this creation of conflicting interests is much
mitigated by a provision which gives the squatter, — as
against the selector but not as against the Crown, — a
tenant right in his improvements, the value of which,
as ascertained by arbitration, must be paid by the
selector before entry.

The dispersion of population by these wise measures,
and the social and industrial changes brought about by
the discovery of the goldfields, have considerably dimin-
ished the influence of the descendants of the original
landowners. But, until the introduction of responsible
government, they were supreme, and "five families"
controlled the State. Land gives a greater political
influence in a growing country even than in England.
The original free grants were an obstacle to progress,
which Western Australia did not overcome for sixty
years.

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CHAPTER VIII

BACK TO THE LAND ''

Thb Cry for Land — ^Experiments in Settlement — Assistance to
Settlers— How the Land is Held To-day.

The Cry for Land

The common objective of all Australian land s}^tenis was»
as has been said. Settlement. In the late 'eighties, and
more deliberately throughout the 'nineties, a new
impulse stirred all Parhaments. The land was to be the
great instrument of social amelioration; and Mother
Earth the refuge from all social tyTdmxy. ^^ Back to the
land " was a cry in every mean street ; and dty dweUers,
indifferent to the secular struggle between squatter and
selector, demanded land for themselves on suitable
conditions. The public lands were not to be dealt with
commercially and for a profit, but as the birthright of
all, so that every man might have a chance to earn
his living and none be unemployed. And if Parliaments
responded too slowly to these demands, there was
alwa5rs Lane's "New AustraUa" in Paraguay,^ where
Socialism was to make a new heaven. The new move-
ment was not a selfish one. It was a time of dreams and
enthusiasms. The Labour Movement, which has given
Australia its distinctive place among the nations, was
bom in those days of illusions and still owes its force to
the faith of those who beUeved their dreams to be true,
and the self-sacrifice with which they tried to make
them so.

Experiments in Settlement
The agrarian-social legislation, of which we must now

^ In 1893 William Lane left Queensland with some 300
followers to foimd a Socialistic Commmiity in Paraguay. The
movement had been incnbating since 1889.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

speak, s}mclironised in every state with the collapse of
credit which obtained between 1890 and 1893.

The pace throughout the 'eighties had been too quick,
and railways and other pubUc works had been constructed
out of the proceeds of land sales and loans, beyond the
requirements even of the influx of assisted immigrants.
The land laws also played a part, by compelling the
financial institutions, for the reasons which have been
already mentioned, to make large advances to squatters
for the protection of their securities. To meet this
demand for cash they took money on deposit from English
and AustraUan investors. These being for short tenns
and the advances being necessary for long periods, a crisis
was inevitable, whenever the depositors might demand
their cash. For the time, however, the discovery of new
mines (e.g., Broken Hill and Mount Morgan), the conquest
by the pastoral industry of the ilUmitable west, and the
general increase in production during a series of good
seasons, justified confidence. Austraha had again
become popular ; and foreign capital filled its channels of
investment. All might have gone well if the people could
have resisted the temptation to speculate in land. Profits,
however, seemed so certain — ^from the rise in value, which
was inevitable if population had continued to increase at
the same rate — ^that this was not to be expected of human
nature. Unhappily the banks fostered, instead of
discouraging, this form of gambling. At first they
financed companies, which, caUing themselves " Building
Societies," bought dty and suburban land in blocks and
sold it in allotments on credit. The profits, on paper,
were enormous, and at last the banks advanced money
directly to their customers to be used in the same way.
A warning came from Adelaide in 1887 but was ignored
by the Melbourne speculators. Then the building socie*
ties went down (1891) and in 1893 seven banks suspended
payment in Victoria, two in New South Wales, and three

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RESULT OF THE LABOUR CRISIS

in Queensland. The future had been so freely discounted
that Melbourne did not for a dozen years grow into the
buildings which were erected in these years of "boom."

With the financial crisis came a labour crisis. The
public works policy of the preceding decade had raised
the wage-earning dass to the zenith of their prosperity.
The inevitable retrenchment brought them to the " na(Ur
of their discontent."* A general strike of seamen in
1890 and another of shearers in 1891 were defeated after
a long and bitter struggle. Tlie workmen, beaten in the
use of this weapon, sought victory by political action, and
the Labour Party suddenly became a power in every state.

Its influence was at once felt in agrarian legislation,
and Socialist experiments in land-holding date from this
period.

The first step was made, on individualistic lines, by
South Australia in 1888, in the passage, at the suggestion
of Mr. Cotton, of an Act to leave Crown Lands with the
right of purchase, in blocks not exceeding 20 acres, to
" men who gained their Uvelihood by their own hands."
The idea of these " Workmen's Blocks " was to provide
artisans with an alternative means of hveUhood and give
them an opportunity of making homes for themselves in
their spare hours. The experiment has achieved consider-
able success. In six years 1,544 of these blocks had been
leased, representing an area of 24,731 acres and returning
a rental of £2,208, or nearly Is. lOd. per acre. There
has, of course, been some " dummying," but the majority
of the block-holders are bond-fide occupiers.

When the crisis occurred in the other States the day for
individuaUstic measures had gone by and therefore the
South Australian example was not followed imtil a full
trial had been given to SodaUst remedies. Western
Australia (1898), Victoria (1900), and New South Wales
(1902) have now all passed similar enactments. The

^ RogecB, p. 169.

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measure has not yet succeeded in Western Australia
and New South Wales as it has in Victoria, where
population is more concentrated and good land adjoins
the towns. Three areas there have been set apart for
Workmen's Blocks since 1900. That at Brunswick, a
suburb of Melbourne, has abundantly justified the scheme.
Fifty-six holders have been settled on 91 acres ; none are
in arrears, and the value of their improvements exceeds
the cost of the land. Other settlements further from the
capital (Wamambool and Leongatha) have not been so
successful. The Leongatha settlement was only kept open
for five months (April to Sept., 1903). It is now used
as a place of relief for casual destitutes, who are allowed
to earn a few days' livelihood by hght field work. No
one may remain after he has earned £2. In this way
the colony has been of service to the deserving destitute,
and a deterrent to the professional " unemployed." The
Closer Settlement Acts (1904, 1906) also make provision
for establishing Workmen's Blocks on portions of resumed
estates.

It has been observed that the other States did not
follow the example set by South Australia until the Labour
movement had spent its first force. Until that time their
remedial measures were drawn on SociaUst Unes. Yet,
even during this period, the " Socialism " of the Austra-
han Labour Party, as manifested in its agrarian legislation,
was different in principle and practice from the Socialism
of Europe. It was a Socialism more of instinct than of
reason. " Mateship " was its dominant idea, not
spoUation ; and the behef was strong that the " New
Australia," from which self-interest should be exorcised,
need not be sought so far as Paraguay.

In one and the same year Queensland, New
South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia — ^Tas-
mania lay outside of the industrial crisis — sanctioned
sales or leases of land to "village communities,"

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LABOUR SETTLEMENTS

"co-operative communities/* "homestead associations/*
and " labour settlements." Their object was expressed,
perhaps a little crudely, by the Minister for Lands for New
South Wales, as being, "to allow people of, say one
religious persuasion or one nationality, or any other
particular fad, to go together, frame their own social
laws, and have their own community/**

Expression was given to this desire in New South Wales
by the establishment of " Labour Settlements/* These
communities were to consist of selected persons, who were
to merge all their individual rights in the common welfare.
Although each settler had his own allotment and received
a maximum advance of £25 from the State to enable
him to work it, his profits were to be pooled and he
received no more than one man*s share of the total profits
made by the community. The distribution of the profits
was regulated by a Board of Trustees, who chose the
settlers, prescribed the work which each one was to do,
and generally made regulations in the common interest.
Every member of the community was jointly hable to
the Government for the repayment of all the capital
advanced after the lapse of four years by yearly
instalments.

On June 30, 1906, only two of these settlements had
survived : one at Bega in the lUawarra district, the other
at Wilberforce in the county of Cumberland. At Bega
thirty-one settlers occupied an area of 1,360 acres and
supported 171 dependents and labourers. A sum of
£2,421 had been advanced by the State, and the value of
the improvements exclusive of crops was £2,296. At
Wilberforce eleven members occupied 409 acres and
supported forty-one dependents. The State had advanced
£2,495 and the improvements exclusive of crops were
£2,360. In both settlements the communistic regiilations

^ This speech did not escape Mr. J. D. Rogers. " Historical
Geography," p. 198.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

had been relaxed; and, except that there was a joint
liability for the sums advanced by the State, every settler
worked independently and for his own profit.

Victoria in the same year (1893) provided for three
kinds of rural settlement : " homestead associations,"
" labour colonies," and " village communities." The
" homestead association " was a modification of the
Wakefield idea of concentrated settlement. Blocks of
land not exceeding 2,000 acres were subdivided into
allotments of fifty acres and set apart to be let on improve-
ment leases, at a nominal rent, to associations of not less
than six persons, who might wish to settle near each other.
The number of persons to be located on each block could
not be less than one to every 50 acres of its area. Except
for this restraint upon the choice of his neighbours, the
settler was in the same position as any other landed
proprietor. The scheme proved a failure and the part
of the Act allowing Homestead Associations was repealed
in 1904.

*' Village Settlements " were also framed upon an indi-
vidualist basis. Indeed they amounted to nothing more
than the cutting up of suitable land into small holdings,
at first of 20 acres each, and increased in 1901 to an area
which, with the original holding, should not exceed ^£200
in value. This tenure is the country form of the suburban
Workmen's Blocks. It has been a great success in
Victoria, where it has settled 1,752 holders on a total
area of 54,404 acres, giving an average of 30 acres for each
holding. The Closer Settlement Acts of 1904 and 1906
have effected a large increase in the number of small
holdings, for which Victoria is specially adapted in
consequence of the proximity of its good land to the
markets of the sea-board. As might be guessed from the
individualist character of these two measures, the Labour
Party was at that time weaker in Victoria than in any
other State. Only one of the new forms of rural

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CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS

settlement passed in 1893 had a socialist basis. This was
the Labour Colonies Act which was framed upon the
New South Wales model and proved no more successful.
South Australia, under the impulse of the prevaihng
public sentiment, devised a more ambitious scheme of
co-operative association. Areas of land suitable for
orchards or farms, or capable of being irrigated, were set
apart in thirteen districts for settlement by associations.
The land in each district was divided into 10-acre blocks,
of which no person could hold more than two. Every
person by leasing such a block became a member of the
association of the district in which it was situate. This
imposed a joint Uability with the other members to pay
interest to the State upon the agreed value of any irriga-
tion works or other improvements of public utihty. In
return each member acquired a commoner's right in a
considerable area which was set apart as commonage in
each district. The debt to the Crown was a first charge on
all the lands in the district and repayable at 4^ per cent,
by instalments spread over 42 years. In the event of an
association defaulting, the members were to be liable for
their proportion of the impaid balance. The commonage
lands were under the control of trustees elected by the
members, subject to the direction of the Commissioner for
lands, and were to be worked for the common good and
benefit of the members upon the principles of co-operation
and equitable division. Each member of the association
was required to contribute labour or a cash equivalent to
the cultivation of the commonage, and the upkeep of the
irrigation plant or other works of pubhc utility. ^ Accounts
were to be kept of the expense and profits of such work,
and after a provision had been made for a sinking fund
to cover depreciation, etc., the balance, if any, was to be
divided among the members. Regulations for the good

1 This re-appearance of the " corvee " in the most democratic
of Australian States is very noteworthy.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

conduct of the members and the profitable working of the
common properties and for the general purposes of the
association were made by the Commissioner for Lands.
Each association is a legal corporation with perpetual
succession.

This ingenious combination of individualist and
collectivist ideas has only been successful in so far as the
latter has been subordinated in practice to the former.
Between 1896 and 1903 seven of the settlements were
abandoned, and only six are in existence at the present
time. ^ On these there are 84 settlers and 906 dependents
and employees. A sum of £102,116 has been advanced
to the settlers, while the value of improvements effected
up to 1904 was only £41,869.

These figures, however, are not conclusive against the
experiment. Mistakes were made at first in the selection
of suitable land, the cost of which ought not to be put
to the debit of the associations in suitable districts.
Probably the true verdict on the South Australian Village
Settlements is, that they have succeeded where private
owners would have succeeded, and failed where these
would have failed, and that their success is more due
to the assistance given by the Government in irrigation
plants and other public works than to their co-operative
character. Any settlement of private owners having the
advantage of the same assistance would perhaps have
done better.

The efforts of Queensland to satisfy the new demand
for land were represented by an Act setting apart 10,000
acres for a Labour Colony, upon the New South Wales
lines, and the " Co-operative Communities Land Settle-
ment Act of 1893.*' This is not a distinctly socialist
measure. Like the South Australian Act, it provided for
the transfer of the individual right of a citizen to take up
land to an association which was empowered to do so on

* At Kingston, Lyrup, Moorok, Pyap, Rameo and Waikerc.

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HOMESTEAD ASSOCIATIONS

his account. The association must consist of not less
than thirty members, and the area taken up cannot
exceed 160 acres for each member. The association may
register under the Friendly Societies Act of 1876, and its
rules must be deposited with the Minister for Lands. The
area required wiU be set apart by proclamation, and the
conditions of the tenure — except that the statutory require-
ment of the expenditure of 2s. 6d. per acre during each of
the first four years cannot be dispensed with — ^are to be
then determined. When once the association has entered
upon its area, it is free to manage the property as it pleases,
subject to the terms of its lease and its own rules. The
special feature of the South Australian Legislation —
Government control — ^is not found in the Queensland Act.
These group settlements have been as great a success in
Queensland as the similar Homestead Associations were a
failure in Victoria. While the Victorian measure was
repealed in 1904, in Queensland, in 1906, no less than
228,654 acres were settled in this way by 260 persons
owning 278 farms. Each member of the group is given
an allotment in the township in addition to his farm, and
residence there is taken as equivalent to residence upon the
latter. By this means a settler escapes the inconveniences
of isolation. His children can get good schooling and him-
self the social comforts of intercourse with friends. It is
the most interesting as well as the most successful method
of settlement which Australia has yet contrived.

Neither the philanthropic nor the commercial devices
for settling people on the land would avail to attract the
poorer class of settler, unless some provision were made to
assist him with capital. If this, as the Credit Foncier
and similar institutions everjrwhere testify, has been
found desirable in Europe, it becomes a necessity in a
young country. Accordingly every State, as it began to
pass from the pastoral into the agricultural epoch, has
devised some means for giving pecuniary assistance to

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cultivators of the soU, both to enable them to purchase
holdings and to make improvements.

Victoria, being the principal agricultural State, led
the way in this direction. The Savings Bank of 1890
authorised loans upon mortgages of farm lands. The
amending Act of 1896 gave express power to lend to
" farmers, graziers, market gardeners, or persons employed
in agricultural, horticultural, and viticiiltural pursuits,"
upon the security of any land held under the Crown,
whether conditionally or in fee. Western AustraHa
followed this example in 1894 and South Australia later.
New South Wales passed an " Advances to Settlers Act '*
in 1899 — ^hoping by this terminology to avoid controversy
with experts in currency. Queensland came into line in
1901 ; Tasmania is about to do so.

In all the States the capital is provided by the sale
to the general public of mortgage-bonds or deben-
tures, carrying a less interest than the rates which
are charged for advances. Each of these distributions
should, therefore, show a profit. The amounts beyond
which advances may not be made vary in different States.
Victoria and South Australia authorise the lending
authorities to raise £3,000,000 for this purpose by the
issue of mortgage bonds, which the Savings Bank is per-
mitted to purchase. New South Wales and Queensland
put the backing of the State most directly in evidence
by authorising the Commissioners or Trustees to raise by
the issue of Government debentures — ^the Commissioners
;f2,000,000, and the Trustees (as the directors of the
lending body are called in Queensland), £250,000.

The terms of the advances also vary. The rate of
interest is now everywhere five per cent., but the terms
of repayment are not the same. In Western Australia
and Queensland no repayment of the principal is required
during the first five years. After that date it must be
repaid in twenty years by half-yearly instalments of

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STATE LOANS

principal and interest. In Victoria, South Australia,
and New South Wales the usual term of repa3mient is
thirty-one years, but by agreement it may be shortened.

The purposes for which loans may be made vary
slightly according to the conditions of the several States
and the forms of tenure in vogue. Generally speaking, a
settler can obtain an advance : (a) to pay ofi existing
encumbrance on his land ; (6) to pay the instalments due
to the Crown in respect of his holding ; {c) to make im-
provements or develop the resources of the land ; (d) to
build homes on his land ; (e) to purchase land from the
Crown. The amount advanced to enable persons to
purchase land must not exceed 80 per cent, of the
official valuation. Advances on land and buildings
may be made up to two-thirds of the value of the
borrower's interest in them. The utmost amount which
may be advanced to one borrower is in New South Wales
and Victoria, ;f2,000; in Queensland, £BO0; in South
Australia, £5,000; in Western Australia, ;f500. No
apprehension is fdt lest the repa3mients should not be
duly made. The experience of every State is that these
are very regular and arrears few. Thus of the total
amount of outstanding advances in Victoria on June 30th,
1907, of £2,111,308, only £46 of principal and £69 of
interest was in arrears, and that was divided between
nine borrowers.

The States in Australia do not confine their assistance
to settlers with loans of money and easy conditions of
tenure. There is probably no other country in which
more attention is paid to the education of the farmer, or a
more careful study made of the resources of the soil and
the best methods of cultivation. Every State has its
agricultural colleges and model farms, to which admission
may be had on terms within the reach of any settler.
The agricultural departments distribute gratuitously
any information likely to be useful. Careful inspection

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is made of orchards and stock farms, and assist-
ance given to destroy pests. Commercial agents are
appointed in London and in the East to push the sale of
Australian products. Meat, milk, butter, and cheese
are inspected by Government officers before they are
exported. The mail contracts require the provision of
cold storage on the mail steamers and the carriage of
produce at reasonable freights, and generally, shipments
are supervised to ensure them being placed on the market
in the best possible condition. The seed of new plants
is distributed gratuitously, and South Australia also dis-
tributes without charge the seeds of those varieties of
wheat, barley, oats, and grass which are most likely to suit
the various soils and cUmates of the State. The carriage of
agricultural produce by the Govermnent railways is at
low rates, and practical lectures are given in farming
districts on matters of interest to agriculturalists. Prizes,
too, are given for model farms. In short, the State
endeavours to supply to the farmers of a young country
the knowledge which experience and research have made
available to those in an older land. The result is seen
in the recent development of agriculture to which reference
has already been made.

How Land is Held To-day

We are now in a position to sununarise the results of
these multifarious devices for procuring settlement. For,
as the preceding chapters wiH have shown, there are
as many varieties of land-tenure in Australia as there are
States, and although the object of all is the same — to
promote settlement, to decentralise, and to substitute
agriculture for pasture — ^the principles which underlie
them have varied at different periods.

In the first epoch of Australian history ,when the Crown's
title to waste lands was more than a constitutional
fiction, the tenure of land was a privilege which imposed
duties towards the public. The grantee was obliged to

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LEASEHOLD TENURES

render services to the Crown and recognised the per-
manence of his obligation by payment of a fixed irredeem-
able rent. In the second epoch, which begins (as to
country lands) with auction sales in 1831, all sense of duty
attachhig to ownership disappeared. In the prevalent
philosophy of the economist an individual only had
" rights." Accordingly the Crown lost all control over
alienated land. The quit-rents were commuted, and
all grants were of the fee. The hands of the clock are
coming now full round. Perpetual leases, or leases-in-
perpetuity, which are perpetual leases without periodic
re-appraisements of rent, are to-day the most favourite
tenure. They are '* only Philhp's tenure by rent-service
under another name."^ They achieve the same
object if the conditions are enforced of conserving the
public interest by enforcing the good uses of the land
and preventing it from being sold to swell a large estate.
A lease can always be forfeited for breach of a condition
and the Crown is under no obligation to accept a trans-
feree as tenant. South Australia has already adopted
perpetual leases as its normal tenure. Conditional
purchases are no longer permitted and auction sales are
confined in practice to town or suburban lands. Even
the grants which issue under a form of deferred payment,
known as "agreement to purchase," contain the same
reservations of Crown rights and the same restrictions
on sub-letting or assignment as perpetual leases. Every
other State is feeling its way in the same direction ;
although only Victoria has as yet definitely adopted the
" perpetual lease." In other States the tendency is shown
by the multipUcation of leasehold tenures and the f aciUties
for acquiring them. Yet even perpetual leases will fail
to check the accumulation of large estates, unless they are
accompanied by other measures. In New Zealand no
person in the future will be allowed to acquire more than
» See Rogers' " Historical Geography," p. 200.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

2,000 acres of Crown lands, and several proposals are being
discussed there, and in the Commonwealth, for making use
of taxation to compel the sub-division of unwieldy holdings.

The results so far may now be described. The total
disposition of the public estate of the Commonwealth
at the end of 1906 was 87 million acres. Of this amount
35 miUions were in process of alienation. This gives
an average of 30J- acres per head of the population.
The area held under lease or license at the same date
was 746 milUon acres, and 1,034 millions were un-
occupied. These figures make it easy to realise the
sparseness of Australian population. The total private
holdings represent a country nearly twice as large as
Great Britain, and Great Britain supports a population
ten times as numerous. Or if the comparison be made
with Spain, France, and Germany, which have populations
of 17i, 38, and 60 millions respectively, the immense
disproportion between the number of the people and the
extent of the ahenated land becomes even more striking.

Its distribution suggests equally disturbing thoughts.
In New South Wales there are 18 freeholds above
40,000 acres each. Of the whole area alienated in
that State nearly one-half — 46*65 per cent. — ^is held
by 720 persons, whose total holding aggregates 22,734,915
acres or an average of 31,576 acres. Treating the land
devoted to agriculture as being held in holdings of from
31 to 40 acres in extent, only one-ninth of the alienated
land, 11-13 per cent, comes under this category.

It has been estimated that less than 2,000 persons own
an area of land equal to that of Great Britain. Such a
result cannot be quoted as a proof of the success of the
Land Acts in settling on the land a yeoman class. The
object has, however, been achieved in respect of pastoral
settlement. "Large areas, pronounced even by exper-
ienced men to be uninhabitable wilds, have since been
occupied by thriving flocks, and every year sees the great

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STATE PURCHASE

Australian desert of the early explorers receding step by
step." ^ Of late years, too, there has been a substantial
advance in agriculture, and, although much of this is
due to the cultivation of large areas by squatters, yet it
marks a stage in the development of the country and
extends employment. According to the figures collected
in the " Year Book of the Commonwealth,*' the extent of
land under cultivation was nearly nine times as large in
1906-7 as it was in 1861. The figures are: 1860-1,
1,188,282 acres ; 1906-7, 9,545,856 acres. This is a rate
of increase more than double that of the population.
The chief progress has been made since 1891. From 1881
to 1891 the population increased nearly twice as fast as
the agricultural industry. Since that date every year
has seen a larger area under crop. The assistance given
by the State in various ways to agriculturists must
be credited with some of this advance.

The favourite device of the day for overcoming the
mischief of " latifundia," is the compulsory purchase by
the State of large holdings — ^whose owners in tiieir day did
good service in developing the country — at a fair price
fixed by a tribunal, for purposes of subdivision among
lessees or purchasers. The State having in the first
place alienated the pick of its land for not more than
£1 an acre, has by means of roads, bridges, and railways,
and other improvements at the expense of all taxpayers,
increased the value of these lands to £4 or £5 an acre. The
exact amount of this increase is estimated by a Court,
and the State bu)^ back for (say) £5 what it sold at £1.
The proceedings have another element of comedy. The
State, at the hearing before the Court, cheapens the land
as much as possible. " It is naught, naught, saith the
buyer." Having paid a sum in excess of what its experts
thought the land to be worth, the State then extols its
excellence and cheapness to the purchasers from whom

1 Coghlan'8 " Australia and New Zealand, 1903-4," p. 342.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

it makes its profit. No wonder that the scheme is
breaking down, because, as the county councils are finding
in England, the State is raising the price of land against
itself by every purchase that it makes. It would be more
logical and simple and more just to the taxpayer to impose
a heavy land-tax on every area of uncultivated land
beyond a certain value, which was situated within the
agricultural districts. Every settler should be allowed,
free of tax, enough land to make him a Uving, and any
area above the determined value, which was kept unlet
and unused, should be taxed into the market. And all
leases should be for not less than seven years and
twice renewable on terms to be approved or settled by
the Local Land Board. Only by some such measure as
this will the people of Austraha recover the use of their
wasted lands. ^

^ At present Land Taxes are levied in every State except
Queensland. In New South Wales, South Australia and West
Australia the basis of the tax is the unimproved capital value.
In Victoria and Tasmania the tax is levied on the capital value
of the land as improved. New South Wales imposed one penny
in the £, with an exemption of lands the unimproved value of
which is under ;f240. In Western Australia the rate is the same,
but the exemption is only of ;f50. In South Australia the tax
is progressive and no exemptions are allowed. The rate is —
On land the unimproved value of which does not

exceed jf5,000 Id. in the ;f

On land the unimproved value of which does not

exceed ;f5,000 1 Jd. „

On land owned by absentees a surtax is imposed
of 20 per cent.
In Victoria all lands belonging to the same owner of which the
capital improved value is under ;f2,500 are exempt. The lands
are classified according to their sheep-canying capacity into four
divisions valued respectively at £\, jf3, £1 and £\ per acre. The
tax is 1^ per cent, of this valuation. City lands are not taxed.
In Tasmania the tax is progressive at the foUowing rates : —
Where the total capital value is under ;f5,000 . . Jd. in the £
;f5,000 and under jflS.OOO fd. „
jfl5,000 ,. ;f40,000 fd.

;f40.000 „ ;f80,000 Jd.

;f 80,000 and over . . Id.

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CHAPTER IX

MATERIAL GROWTH

Private Wealth — Difhision of Wealth — Savings — ^Production —
The Pastoral Industry — ^Farming and Dairying — ^Agriculture
— Mineral Production — The Manufacturing Industry —
Internal Trade—Over-sea Commerce — ^The Balance of Trade
— ^Indebtedness — Banking — Summary.

Private Wealth

In material wealth Australia stands high among the
world's conmmnities and her advance since Federation
has been remarkable. According to an estimate, which
is necessarily approximate, but which is accepted among
statisticians, Australia stands second in respect to
the private wealth of its citizens, with a total of
£1 ,043,840,000 1 and an average of £260 per head. Only
the United Kingdom stands above her, with an average
per head which exceeds £300. The United States and
Canada come far behind.

Diffusion of Wealth

Of greater importance than the aggregation of wealth
is its diffusion among all classes of the community.
Figures on this point must be necessarily estimates,
but a fair idea may be obtained of the distribution of
property by comparing the number of persons who leave
property at death with the number of adults dying.
Mr. Coghlan, * working on these Unes, finds that 28*5 per
cent, of the adult males and females, who died in the
Commonwealth during the period 1895-1900, left property
behind them. That is to say, seven out of every twenty-five
grown-up people own property. Their ratio to the total

^ About two-thirds of this is represented by Land, House and
Improvements.

i " Australasia and New Zealand/' 1903-4, p. 518.

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population was 17*23, which is nearly one in six, and it
has been increasing steadily in every State. Figures are
not available which will determine exactly the average
amount owned by each person, but an estimate made
by Mr. Coghlan for New South Wales is probably correct
for the whole Commonwealth. This states that 987
persons^ in that State had properties of over ;f 50,000
in value. These fortimate ones owned among them
£130,521,000, or 35*4 per cent, of the whole property
of the State, themselves being only 0-13 of the population.
A further 2,086 persons held £168,782,800, or 458 of the
total. Mr. Coghlan adds that "probably" half the
State is owned by 3,000 persons. Only 544,972 persons
had less than £200. These figures, it must be remem-
bered, include children. Moreover, 120,798 persons
owned between £200 and £500. There is no reason to
think that the circumstances of New South Wales differ
greatly as regards the distribution of its wealth from other
States, so that these figures may be taken as showing the
diffusion of property throughout the Commonwealth.

Savings

The figures as to savings tell the same story. In the
year 1907-8 there were 1,258,689 depositors in savings
banks, being in the ratio of 304 to each thousand of the
population. Their total deposits amounted to £42,096,289,
being an average for each depositor of £33 8s. lid., or
£10 3s. 8d. per head of the population.* Thus, while,
as we have seen, one person in six in Australia owns
property, one person in three has a savings bank account.

Australia also holds the world's record for Ufe insurance,
which is another form of saving. In 1906-7 there were

^ The population of New South Wales at that time was
1.354.846.

* Interest-bearing deposits are restricted to £200, This
rule is usually relaxed in favour of Friendly Societies.

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WEALTH AND SAVINGS

in force with the eighteen companies doing business in
the Commonwealth, 446,894 life policies, insuring a total
amount, without bonus additions (which have amounted
to about £13,000,000), of £107,809,911, and carrying a
total annual income for premiums of £3,648,914. In
addition there were in force during the same year 346,283
industrial policies, covering a total amount of £7,301,581,
and requiring £389,451 a year in premiums.

Friendly Societies are another important factor in
inducing thrift. They flourish in Australia almost as
well as life insurance companies, having a total member-
ship of about 340,000 distributed among 3,948 lodges.
The revenue of these societies is £1,105,279, and they have
£4,093,581 of accumulated funds.

The figures given above as to the savings of the people
give convincing evidence of the stability of Australian
society. If Australians have an inclination to improvi-
dence and gambling, it is because they have money to
spare for extravagances, and not that they neglect to
make provision for the future.

Production

The wealth and income of Australia come from the
production, ^ handling, carriage and shipment of articles
grown or made within the Commonweath. Her produc-
tion, her industry, and her commerce should accordingly
be dealt with separately in order to ascertain and measure
the sources of AustraUan wealth.

Australian production may be conveniently classified,
in order of importance, into pastoral, mineral, and
agricultural. The figures which express the results in
each of these directions are bewildering by their magni-
tude. There is, however, no other way by which the
material importance of Australia to the Empire can be
adequately indicated.

^ In the text the term Production refers only to Primary
Products of the soil.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The Pastoral Industry

Australia is pre-eminently " the Land of the Golden
Fleece." The amount of wool, which she produced in
1906 amounted to the gigantic total of 552,156,737 lbs.,
which had a value of £22,600,000. The number of sheep
increased that year from 83*6 to 87*7 millions, and the
receipts from her wool, owing to high prices, were
£7,000,000 more than in any other year. ^ Only one-and-
a-half per cent, of the dip is retained within the Common-
wealth. The rest is exported and swells the figures of
Australian commerce. Large as this output is, there is
no reason to anticipate that it will not increase. The
supremacy of Australia in wool-growing is unassailable
because she can have no serious rival in the production
of the finest merino wool. • There seems to be a quality
in her wide, dry pastures, which is as suitable to wool
and as local, as tlie waters of the Trent to Bass' Ales.
Mr. Coghlan estimates that, under existing conditions,
with allowance for the extension of agriculture, the
country could carry 300,000,000 more sheep.

The magnitude of the wool industry has many indirect
results. Although it gives employment directly to very
few, • nearly half Australia lives on wool ; and wool is
the chief cause of that concentration of the people in the
seaboard cities which is so remarkable a feature of
Australian life. Trace a bale of wool from the run to the
hold of the ship, and the m3^tery becomes apparent.
Except the trunk lines and a few cock-spurs in Victoria,

i It is estimated that the fall of Id. a lb. in wool means the
loss of a million sterling to Australia. Owing to the break in
prices Australia will receive about ;f5,000,000 less for the 1908
clip than for that of 1907.

* Since 1851 the export of wool from Australia has reached
;£669,500,000.

* The average is one man to 2,500 sheep. Probably not
100,000 persons of both sexes find regular employment at runs.
This, of course, does not include shearers or other nomadic bush
labour.

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DAIRY EXPORTS

the railways were built for wool. The Lands Department
and other branches of the public service owe their present
numbers to the same cause. Wool must be shipped;
therefore the cities must be at the ports and all who
handle or dispose of wool must be there too.

Meat production is the second branch of the pastoral
industry. Besides sheep (87,780,819), there were
10,112,262 cattle, 1,869,674 horses, and 748,000 pigs in
the Commonwealth in 1907. The export of frozen beef
and mutton returned ;f 1,667,000, and the total exports
of all pastoral products was £27,001,877.

Farming and Dairying Industries

Between pastoral and agricultural production come
dair}dng and fanning. Butter-making is the chief
industry in this group. In 1906, Australia produced
159,870,662 lbs. of butter and 14,778,658 lbs. of cheese.
She exported, chiefly to the United Kingdom,
75,732,713 lbs. of butter of a value of £3,236,930. Her
cheese was nearly all consumed at home. She also
exported, principally as ship's stores, £182,941 of milk
concentrated and preserved. Pigs are fed on the bye-
products of the farm and dairy, and in 1906 41,165,914 lbs.
of bacon and ham were cured in the Commonwealth.
The total export value of all farm and dairy products was
£3,357,069.

The dairying industry has grown up under State-aid.
Experts are employed to give instruction in approved
methods of production, to examine animals, to inspect
the buildings used for milking and separating, and to
examine the marketable produce. Cream separating
and butter-making are generally carried on imder a
co-operative sj^tem in large central factories. The
Governments also import stud buUs and their officers
inspect the quality and grading of butter before it is
exported. The Commonwealth has also made provision

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

in its mail contract for its carriage in refrigerating cham-
bers at a freight of not more than 1^. a pound. In
consequence, the butter industry is making great advances,
and it is certain that the United Kingdom wiU draw more
and more of her supplies of this commodity from the
Australian continent.

Of the minor farming industries, bee-keeping and
poultry-farming show promise of expansion. London
is a market for Australian honey and there is a large
demand there for frozen poultry, which will be suppUed
by Australia, when local prices fall. The States have
therefore begun to extend their assistance to that industry.
Agriculture

The most remarkable progress is in Agriculture. The
total area under crops has increased from 8,414,054 acres
in 1901-2 to 9,339,566 acres in 1907-8. The principal
crops were wheat, oats, maize, barley, potatoes and sugar.
The areas under cultivation in each case, with the total
products, its value and the average per acre are given in
the following table :

Principal Austrauan Crops, 1906.*

Area under

Average

Crop

Total Yield

Crop in
Acres

Cash Value

Yield per
Acre

Bushels

Wheat

66.100,654

5,997J94

%niiffi^

11-06

Oats

13,611,987

581,843

1,366,815

21-22

Barley

2,248,432

106,436

343,535

20-40

Maize

10,172,154

305,857

1,326,071

23-86

Beans, Peas

655,167

30,824

—

21-26

Rye

137,471
Tons

9.738

—

1412
Tons

Potatoes

507,153

146,681

1,502,779

3-46

Onions

31,756

5,378

—

5-9

Other Root Crops

122,659

12.146

—

10-10

Sugar Cane

1,950,340

153.8aS

—

17-96

Hay

2,256.140

1,654,399

5,916,980

13-6

Wine

5.891,945

62,546

—

» See " Year Book." pp. 300-1.

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WHEAT PRODUCTION

The figures which are of greatest significance in the
above table are those relating to wheat. ^ It will be
seen that the production of this crop was 66,100,654
bushels, and that its cash value was nearly ten million
pounds. Nor is this the fortunate result of one good
season. The production for 1905-6 was larger by two
million and a half bushels, and in 1903-4 it totalled
74,149,634 bushels. It is true that in 1902-3 the pro-
duction was only 12,378,068 bushels, and that Australia
then imported wheat. But it would be a mistake to
conclude from this that the seasons are too irregular for
wheat-growing in Australia. There has been no year
like 1902-3 since 1860. After that date the production
was fairly stationary for twenty years. From 1880
onwards, except in 1895-6 and the year already mentioned
there was a steady increase. When Federation broke
down the inter-colonial tariffs, wheat production jimiped
ahead (1900-1), and the increase has continued ever
since.

Production of Wheat, 1860-1—1906-7.

(See " Commonwealth Year Book," p. 302.)

Before Federation.

1,000 Bushels
1860-1 .. .. 10,245
1865-6 .. 9,654

1870-1 .. .. 12,084
1885-6 .. .. 18,712
1890-1 .. .. 23.356
1895-6 .. .. 27,431

After Federation.

1900-1 .. .. 48,353

1901-2 .. .. 38,561

1902-3 .. .. 12,378

1903-4 .. .. 74,149

1904-5 .. .. 54,535

1905-6 .. 68,520

1906-7 .. .. 66,100

1907-8 .. 44,588

^ There was a decline in these figures for the year 1907-8.
The statistics, however, are not yet complete for this period.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The quality of Australian wheat is excellent. Mr. Jago, in
" The Science and Art of Bread-making," states that it is " of a
choice colour and sweet flavour," that it grows well and yields
from 72 to 76 per cent, of flour as against 70 to 73 per cent, for
Canadian wheat. Its grain is of a bright clear texture, rich in
gluten and of a fine milling quality. Its average price in the
London market is 6d. a quarter higher than Canadian and Is. Sd.
higher than Argentine.

Apart from the importance of agricultural develop-
ment to Australia itself, it has an Imperial significance.
Australia has been always known to clothe the Empire ;
the part she plays in feeding it is often ignored. Yet no
other portion of the Empire produces the necessaries of
hfe in greater abundance. Butter and meat, as was seen
in the preceding section, go to the United Kingdom in large
quantities. Canada is known to be a supplier of bread,
but it is not generally recognised that Australia runs
Canada close. In 1906 Australia exported 20,138,149
bushels of wheat and 26,796 tons of flour to the United
Kingdom. She also supplied other parts of the Empire
with 4,930,094 bushels of wheat and 76,144 tons of flour.
Unlike Canada she has also foreign markets for her flour.
She sent Chile 2,212,410 bushels, and Peru, Italy, Spain,
the Manillas and Portuguese East Africa all draw suppUes
from this granary. Her total exports are, wheat,
30,262,335 bushels; flour, 166,881 tons. The export
value of all Australian agricultural produce was
£7,707,281, and this included such diverse articles as
coffee, cotton, flax, ginger, sugar, tobacco and wine in
addition to cereals, pulses and roots.

Mineral Productions

The mineral production of Australia received a tem-
porary set-back through a fall in the price of metals due to
the American financial crisis. But this soon passed,
and except gold there was an increased output of all the
leading minerals in 1906. The figures are subjoined :

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MINERAL WEALTH

Miller als

1903

In £000's.
1904 1905

1906

1907

Gold

Silver and Lead

Tin . .

Coal..

16-294

2112

•770

2-616

15-297

2-599

•804

2-323

15-550
3093
1014
2314

14631
3-344
1-509
2-669

13-511
4-719
1-502
3-302

Australia produces 13 per cent, of the world's silver,
17-61 of the gold, 5 per cent, of the copper, and 6-9 of
the tin. Until the production of the Transvaal jumped
from £7,000,000 in 1902 to 3^25,000,000 in 1906, Australia's
share in the world's production of gold was much greater,
being 26-56 per cent, in 1901. The following figures
relating to gold production explain the change :

Percentage of World

Year

duction in £000*s

Supply

1901

15759

26-56

1902

16-763

2461

1903

18322

24-35

1904

17884

2232

1905

17-644

2013

1906

16-902

17-61

The variety of minerals in Australia is very great.
Among the more valuable, which are at present hardly
worked, are platinum, osmicum, iridium, and iridos-
mine. Cobalt, nickel, manganese, chromium, timgsten,
molybdenum, mercury, antimony, bismuth and zinc have
all been found, some in considerable quantities. Valu-
able opals are found in the west of New South Wales and
in Queensland. Diamonds of good quaUty have been
discovered in New England (New South Wales), and, it
is believed, are in considerable quantities ; but the
fields have not been explored owing, it is said, to the
action of agents of competing groups, who fear an increase
in the supply. Rubies and other precious stones exist
in the Macdonell ranges and elsewhere. This long

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list might lead to the belief that Australia had been
thoroughly prospected, which would be altogether erro-
neous. The greater part of the continent — even of the
settled districts — ^is almost virgin soil for the prospector
of rare minerals and very little of Central Australia
has been prospected even for gold. It is probable that
the proposed Trans-Continental railway, connecting Cool-
gardie with the eastern seaboard, will open access to
several unsuspected fields of mineral wealth. In the
meantime only two quartz reefs ^ are being worked in New
South Wales, in spite of the certainty that where there
has been alluvial gold there must be gold-bearing reefs.
If the people of New South Wales took to mining
ventures, like the Victorians, the deep mines of Ballarat
would be copied in several districts.

The total production of minerals in 1907 was valued
at 3£28,3e7,202.

The Manufacturing Industry

Manufacturing is still in its infancy. Prior to 1900,
the tariffs of each State fostered a few industries for
the supply of a local market ; others sprang up to meet
immediate necessities, such as iron-working, brick-
making, or quarrying ; there were others, such as furni-
ture-making, which had always the protection of high
ocean freights ; but in the main, manufactured articles
were imported. The Commonwealth tariff, which came
into force on November 4, 1901, gave some protection,
which was increased by the tariff of 1907,* but it is
not possible yet to speak of Australia as a manufac-
turing country. She has only captured a foreign market
in the two lines of agricultural implements' and mining

1 Cobar and Wyalong. • As to Tariffs see Part III. Chap. I.

'In 1907 ;£228,000 worth of working agricultural machinery was
exported. ;^29,652 worth of " Stripper Harvesters " was ex-
ported to the Argentine. This is an Australian invention, which
combines a stripper with a mechanism for winnowing and bagging
grain. Mowing machinery is sent to the Straits Settlements.

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FACTORY LABOUR

machinery. Most of the so-called " factories " are very
small, since the term, as used in the statistical records,
includes " any factory, workshop or mill where four or
more persons are employed or power is used." A dress-
maker who employs three hands becomes under this
definition a "factory owner." Indeed, there are 1,759
" factories " which employ less than four people, and
1,290 which employ only four. At the other end of
the scale are 392 factories emplojdng altogether 81,290
persons, and 479 employing 43,996. This classification
makes it difficult to estimate the growth and importance
of the manufacturing industry.

The power employed furnishes some guide. In 1903
this was 180,296 horse power ; in 1906 it was 212,000.
The value of the plant and machinery increased during
the same period from £18,639,000 to £21,731,000. It
is noticeable that there is an increasing ratio of female
employment in the two principal manufacturing states, —
Victoria and New South Wales. The figures, as given
in the Year Book, show that the number of females
per 100 males in Australian factories has increased
steadily from 3265 in 1903 to 3558 in 1906. This is
due to a large increase since the tariff in clothing and
tailoring estabUshments and factories. " Certain trades,
too," says Mr. Knibbs, " are specially known as women*s
trades, such for example as clothing and textile trades,
preparation of food, printing and book-binding and Ughter
work connected with the drug trade, such as wrapping.
Large numbers of women are also employed as clerks and
typewriters."

The industries which are concerned with metals are
a good index of manufacturing development. In Aus-
tralia these employ 18'99 per cent, of the factory hands
and occupy 12-04 per cent, of the "factories." They
comprise the manufacture of agricultural implements,
brass and copper, cutlery, engineering, galvanised iron

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

works, iron works and foundries, lead mills, railway
carriage and locomotive making, smelting and chlori-
nating, the making of stoves, wire-working and other
metal works. This is a longer list of high-class industries
than many persons wiU be prepared for and it indicates
great possibilities. The value of the machinery and
plant used in this group was ;f3,354,007, of which
£1,403,312 was used in engineering works. Woollen and
tweed mills have plant and machinery valued at ;f340,008
and pay £102,458 a year in wages. There is also a
considerable industry of ship-building and repairing and
the furniture trade has an annual wage bill of £351,580.
With these exceptions, Australian industries are those
which are immediately concerned with the primary
products of agriculture and wool-growing — such as
tanning, wool-scouring, soap-making, brick-making, saw-
milling, cooperage, brewing, butter and cheese, meat
chilling and preserving, biscuit and jam making, 3ugar
refining, confectionery and tobacco making, etc., etc.
The Australians, however, realise that no nation can be
great which does not contain within itself an outlet for
every activity, and are, therefore, giving great attention
to enlarging and diversifjang its manufacturing industry.
The value of the output of manufactures for 1906 was
estimated at £31,172,000.

Internal Trade

Figures of exchange and distribution must always bear
a close relation to those of production. Consequently
Australia, as she produces much, does a large trade.
That between the States themselves amounted in 1907 to
£42,280,980 — a convincing proof of the wisdom of abolish-
ing State tariffs. ^ The average of this internal trade
during the five years preceding federation (1896-1901)
was only £26,381,000. The wine industry is among those

^ The uniforxn tariff came into force Oct. 4, 1901.

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EXTERNAL TRADE

which have benefited most by the removal of internal
Customs barriers.

Over-sea Commerce

"The over-sea trade of the Commonwealth," writes
Mr. Knibbs (Year Book, p. 497), "during 1906, both
as regards imports and exports, is by far the greatest
yet recorded. From a total of £56,000,000 in 1886,
equal to 3^20 7s. 8d. per inhabitant, the trade grew by
somewhat irregular movements, until in 1891 it amounted
to £73,753,000 or £23 Is. 6d. per head. The year 1892
marked the beginning of a period of acute financial
stress culminating in the commercial crisis of 1893. The
collapse of these years, confined by no means to Australia,
but affecting in varying degree many countries, is plainly
reflected in the records of the trade of that period ; for
the trade in 1894 had fallen to £54,028,227, a decline of
no less than 26*75 per cent, in three years. In 1895 there
was slight recovery, and a continuous upward movement
until 1901, when the trade reached £92,130,000 or
£24 5s. lOd. per head. A decline, due to drought, in the
exports of agricultural, pastoral, and dairy produce,
reduced the trade of 1902 to £84,591,000 ; but, although
in the next year there was a further shrinkage in the
exports of agricultural produce, the increase in the value
of the exports of metals, specie, butter and wool was so
large as to ejffect an increase in the total trade. From
1902 the increase has been continuous, reaching in 1906
the amount of £144,482,000 ^ equal to £28 Os. 5d. per
inhabitant.'*

No apology is needed for this long quotation, because,
in the present stage of Australian development, the
figures of the over-sea trade are the best index of her
material position. They are not, however, easy to
interpret.

1 Imports, £44,737,763. Exports, ;f69,737,763.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

TABLE

Balance of Trade of Australia

and
Percentage of Exports and Imports

and
Annual Loan Expenditure, 1886-1906,

IN ;fOOO'S.

Year

Balance of
Trade

Percentage
of Exports
to Imports

Loan
Expenditure

Loan Expenditure
per head of
Population

1886

^12-478

63-9

1887

-6151

79-2

1888

-7-980

78-4

1889

-«024

78-6

1890

-5-846

83-4

1891

-1-668

95-6

1892

3-262

110-8

1893

9-460

139-8

1894

10-233

146-7

1895

10-449

1450

1896

3-305

1111

1897

5-824

118-2

1898 '

8-683

127-6

1899

14-269

141-6

1900

4-568

1110

I s. d.

1901

7-262

1171

9-465

2 9 6

1902

3 239

1080

8-862

2 5 8

1903

10-438

127-6

4-633

1 3 7

1904

20-465

155-2

3-424

17 2

1905

18-494

148-2

3-556

17 7

1906

24-992

155-9

3-882

18 10

1907

21-014

—

The Balance of Trade

The first noticeable feature of these figures is the rapid
increase in the value of exports as compared with imports.
In the earUer periods the balance of trade was in favour
of imports ; but from 1892 onwards the reverse has been
the case. To quote from Mr. Knibbs once more, " The
increase in the value of imports from 1886 to 1906 is

* Note. — The minus sign (-) denotes excess of Imports.

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ORGANISATION OF TRADE

equivalent to an annual rate of 1-36 per cent., whereas
the exports during the same period show an increased
value equal to 6*01 per cent, per annum, the annual rate
of increase of the total trade being 3-65 per cent.**

The explanation is that Australia was increasing hor
indebtedness in the earlier years and reducing it in the
later. Excess of imports meant an influx of new capital.
Excess of exports represents interest and profits on the
investment of outside capital, payment of freights, both
inwards and outwards, and the repayment of debts.

To make this point clear it must be possible to com-
pare the values of imports and exports on the same basis.
This cannot be done without correcting the oflidal figures.
In all returns exports are entered at their cost f.o.b. ;
while the value of imports includes freight and all other
charges, together with the profits of the manufacturer
and every intermediate distributor. Probably not less
than ten per cent, should be deducted from the declared
value of imports upon this account. Both exports and
imports can then be compared at their cost value f.o.b.

Under normal conditions of profitable trade imports
ought to exceed exports by the amoxmt of the exporters'
profit ; because no country sends away ^f 100 without
expecting to receive back more. Ten per cent, is a fair
allowance upon this account, and equilibrium would be
maintained if imports exceeded exports only by that
amount. This amount should be deducted from the
declared value of imports in addition to the fifteen per
cent, for costs, charges and profits, in order to arrive at
the balance, which is available on either side for the
adjustment of financial relations between the exporting
and importing country. An allowance of not less than
five per cent, must also be made upon the other side for
the cost of freights. Australia does not do her own carrying
trade, and therefore a portion of her exports represent
payments for freight. Accordingly, in order to ascertain

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

the amount which Australia pays each year in repay-
ment of principal and interest, or receives in the form of
pubUc or private loans, the declared value of the exports
should be reduced by five per cent, for freights, and the
declared value of the imports by twenty-five per cent.,
being fifteen per cent, for costs, charges and profits, and
ten per cent, for the exporters' profit.

If, then, the balance is in favour of exports, whatever
remains after payment of all interest charges will be a
repayment of principal. Or if the balance is less than
sufficient to pay interest, then the difference, together
with the excess (if any) of imports, will represent an
addition to Australia's indebtedness.

This explains the paradox that both in England, the
creditor country, and Australia, the debtor country,
imports were at one time in excess of exports. England's
excess represents payments for services rendered, and
interest on foreign investments ; Australia's excess
represented advances of the capital she needed for the
development of her resources.

Indebtedness

The balances in the foregoing table are gross. To
ascertain the exact position of Australia in regard to her
over-sea trade it would be necessary to reduce them to
net, by deducting all interest charges from the export
side of the account and loan monies from the imports.
This is easy up to a point — that is to say, the interest
charge on all pubUc loans, state or municipal, can be
exactly ascertained ; but there is another large source of
indebtedness which is in a different category. Australia
has no hoards. She has to look abroad for capital ;
and her private indebtedness, in consequence, is very
large. Mr. Coghlan estimated it at £147,000,000 as at
June 30, 1904. Certainly most Australian enterprises
are financed from England, and the Income Tax returns

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PAYMENT OF INTEREST

will show what profits they make. There must also be
much money borrowed for investments which make no
return, or not sufficient to pay interest. This part of the
interest charge, Uke that which is payable in respect
of public loans, is payable irrespective of production
and is a dead charge upon it.

The aggregate indebtedness of the Australian States
on June 30, 1907, was ;f 240, 149,000, or £57 15s. 2d. per
head. The annual charge for interest was ;^,654,299.
But 3£54,570,338, or 22*7 per cent, of the total indebted-
ness was owing in Australia, and therefore the interest
charge on this portion would not be paid by exports.
Allowing £2,000,000 on this account, the yearly liability
of Australia to the creditors of the States who live outside
the Commonwealth for interest is £6,700,000. Borrow-
ings by municipalities and others of the total sum of
£10,000,000 constitute another form of pubUc indebted-
ness. But as two-thirds of this sum have been taken up
in Australia, not more than £200,000 a year need be
remitted abroad as interest upon that account.

To arrive at the yearly siun which is required as interest
upon the private indebtedness of Australia is much more
difficult. Imports, even after the allowances referred to
have been made, are an unsafe guide, because in the
pre-Federation days, the State records made no distinction
between goods arriving over-sea from another State or
by the same entrance from an outside country. There
was also an analogous defect in the record of exports.
Goods despatched from one State to another State for
transhipment to an over-sea coimtry, were simply recorded
in the former as an export to the trans-shipping State ;
and thus no proper record was made of the export as
over-sea.

Melbourne, for instance, financed all the other States
for many years, by importing foreign capital into Victoria.
This would appear again as an over-sea import in the Official

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Returns of any State to which it might be transferred.
Thus the same import might figure in the records
of every one of the six States. Analogously, New South
Wales shipped large quantities of wool to Melbourne,
which were entered only as an export to Victoria. By
these errors the import figures prior to 1903 are
largely over-stated, while those relating to exports are
understated — both errors increasing the apparent
indebtedness of Australia^.

It would seem, therefore, impossible to accept Mr.
Coghlan's high estimate of £147,372,000. Judging from
the capital of the Banks and Finance Companies, which
has been subscribed in England, and the deposits which
these hold from persons outside the Commonwealth,
and making allowance for the investments of private
persons in stations and city lands, ;flOO,000,000 would
appear a high estimate of the total private indebtedness
of Australia. The annual interest charge on this at five
per cent, wotild be ;f500,000.

Thus on the three sources of indebtedness — State,
local and private — Austraha has to pay annual charges
for interest of about £6,700,000, £200,000 and £500,000,
making a total of £7,400,000. «

It wiU be seen from the table on p. 154 that in the
four years, 1903-6, the declared balances of exports over
imports have totalled £74,389,000. From the import
side ten per cent, must be deducted to equalise the basis
of comparison between the two sets of figures. This
would increase the actual balance to £78,389,000. Another
ten per cent, of the imports represent exporters' profits,
which must also be added to the balance of exports, if we
wish to ascertain the amounts available for hquidating
debts. This gives a sum of £82,389,000, from which

1 See " Year Book of the Commonwealth," p. 497.
* The incomes remitted to Australians visiting Europe may
be set off against the monies spent by over-sea visitors in Australia.

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BANKING

must be deducted the £7,400,000 payable as interest.
This leaves about £75,000,000, which represent the reduc-
tion of Austraha's outside indebtedness during the four
years 1903-6. To put the matter in another way. Under
normal conditions of trade, and when there is an equili-
brium between the introduction and withdrawal of capital,
Austraha ought to show an excess of exports of £7,400,000,
representing interest on her total outside indebtedness.
This excess should be diminished and perhaps turned
into a deficiency by whatever is the value of ten per cent,
of the total imports, representing the exporters' profits.
If this profit exactly equalled the charge for interest —
exports and imports would balance.

Banking

A great volume of trade requires corresponding banking
facilities, so that banking statistics furnish a rehable
index of the conmiercial situation. The distinctively
AustraUan banks have a paid-up capital of £16,616,827
and a reserve fund of £7,332,593. Their total Uabihties
on June 30, 1907, both to the pubUc and their share-
holders were £117,507,488, and their assets were
£125,740,000, or £8,000,000 more than at the same date
in 1906. The total of the deposits and advances since
1904 are shown in the following table :

Total I

Deposits* )

Total )

Advances J

1904

91,548,103

87,705.227

1905

98,143,385

85,768,259

1906
£
106,515,266

87,889,121

1907

113,743,059

94,990,435

Warned by the crisis of 1893, 47*10 per cent, of the
total habilities are represented by coin and buUion, a
ratio which indicates an almost excessive caution.

* The depositB per head of population were £27 2s. Id. in 1907.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

These figures show that Australian material interests
are really in the sound and healthy condition which
was suggested by the figures of production and trade.
For the last complete year the increase in the advances
exceeded the increase in deposits by nearly one million
sterling ; and it is believed ^ that the next returns will
show even a more pronounced tendency in the same
direction. No better evidence could be afforded of the
industrial expansion which is taking place than this
demand of money for new enterprises. There is more-
over no sign of unsound commitment ; and there is
no boom.

Summary

Figures must of necessity be dull reading, but by no
other means was it possible to express the wonder of
Australia's wealth. Judged by any standard, whether
natural resources, climate, individual prosperity, pro-
duction, trade, or conunerce, a comparison with other
parts of the Empire is in favour of Australia. She has
only 4,119,000 people. Yet the produce in agricultural
and pastoral industries is £84,349,000 : in forestry and
fisheries, £4,879,000 ; in minerals, £26,643,000 ; and in
manufactures, £31,172,000 ; making a total production
of £147,043,000, or £35 19s. lOd. per head. At the same
time her internal trade is £76,428,000, and her over-sea
commerce £114,482,675, making a total per head of
£46 14s. 7d., or of £28 Os. 5d. per head for over-sea com-
merce alone. No one who grasps these figures will
question Mr. Frank BuUen's statement that " Australia
is by far the richest of all the colonies."

1 From the Titnes, Aug. 1, 1908. Report from the London
office of the Commonwealth,

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PART 11. THE GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER I

THE FIGHT FOR UNION

Provincial Divisions — ^The First Steps — ^The Convention of 1891
—The Draft Bill— The Convention of 1897-8— Note on the
Contest.

No people in the world would seem to be more plainly
marked out by Nature to be under one government than
the homogeneous British inhabitants of the isolated
island of Australia. " A continent for a people, a people
for a continent." ^ Yet, — such is the perversity of fate
and prejudice, — ^Australia, until the first day of the
twentieth century, was divided into six self-governing
communities, each separate from the others and seeking
its own advantage without regard to the common interest.
New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, South
Australia and Queensland each had its * " own legislature,
its local corporate life, with no small local pride in its
own history and institutions, super-added to the pride
of forming part of the English race and the great free
British realm. • Between the various colonies there was
no other political connection than that which arose from
their all belonging to this race and realm, so that the
inhabitants of each enjoyed in every one of the others
the rights and privileges of British subjects." This

^ This fine phrase of Sir Edmund Barton's — ^to whose faithful
hands Sir Henry Parkes committed the leadership of the Federal
movement — ^will Uve with his leader's "Crimson thread of
kinship/' among the literary mementoes of the struggle.

" These words are used by Professor Bryce, " American
Commonwealth," p. 22, of the American Colonies before 1765.

» Froude found, in 1887, that Mr. W. B. Dalley— a true
Imperialist — ^was opposed to Australian Union, because of this
feeling. (See " Oceana " passim.)

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

however did not prevent each State from imposing tariffs
against its neighbours' products,^ or trying to divert
their trade to its own ports by means of differential railway
rates. There was, too, such a sullen and deep-seated
hostiUty between New South Wales and Victoria, that
at times it seemed as if the history of the South American
repubhcs might repeat itself. The waste, confusion
and irritation became at last insupportable. There was
fear, too, of foreign complications, owing to the entry of
Germany into the Pacific.

The First Steps

An opportune report by Major-General Edwards
insisted upon the necessity, both on the ground of
economy and efficiency, of combined ndlitary action for
defensive purposes.' Sir Henry Parkes, who had
brooded for many years upon the larger questions of
Australian politics, saw that his long-watched-for time
had come. In October, 1889, he chose a moment of
poUtical calm to make a speech at Tenterfield, on the
borders of Queensland and New South Wales, which
stirred Australian feeling to its depths, demanding " a
Dominion ParUament in the Dominion of Australia —
that the colonies should be erected into a Dominion, and
that an elective Parliament should govern them." The

^ Even the so-caUed " Free Trade " tariffs of New South Wales
put duties on the agricultural produce and wines of the other
colonies.

* In 1878 there was a Russian scare, followed by a Royal
Commission on Defence (1879) and a Conference of Premiers
(1880). Queensland seized New Guinea in 1883. In 1885 Lord
Derby, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, put forward a
scheme of Naval Defence (1 885) . Admiral Tryon, as Commander-
in-Chief of the Australian Station, negotiated Naval Subsidies
with the Premiers of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria
(1886). The first Colonial Conference was held in London in
1887. The Organisations of the Protestant Churches became
inter-colonial during the Nineties. Labour Unions were federated
in 1890 and Pastoralists' Unions in 1891.

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THE FEDERAL COUNCIL

reception of this speech showed with what unerring
instinct Sir Henry Parkes had chosen his occasion.
The movement passed at once from the politicians to
the people. An effort was made, which was partly sincere
and partly prompted by Victorian mistrust of Sir Henry
Parkes, to turn the current of pubUc feeUng towards a
strengthening of the moribimd Federal Coimcil,^ which

^ The Federal Council was established in 1885 by an Act of the
Imperial Parliament. It consisted of two representatives from
eadi participating State, appointed by the Ministry of the day
It met biennially at Hobaxt and was charged with legislative
powers over (1) The relations of Australia with the Islands of the
Pacific ; (2) Prevention of the influx of criminals ; (3) Fisheries
in Australian waters beyond territorial limits ; (4) The service
of Process ; (5) The enforcement of Judgments beyond the
limits of a colony. It had also derivative power over (1) Defence ;
(2) Quarantine ; (3) Patent Law ; (4) Copyright ; (5) Bills of
Exchange ; (6) Marriage and Divorce ; (7) Nationalisation, and
(8) other matters which any four or more States might agree
to refer to it. The original legislative powers aflfectwl all the
participating States ; those which were conferred by reference,
only the reforming States. Sir Henry Parkes, who had supported
the formation of this Council in 1880 soon perceived that it might
be an obstacle to closer union. New South Wales, consequentiy,
alwa3r8 held aloof from it. " I am convinced." said the states-
man, " that the whole matter is wrongly based. It is impossible
for any body constitutionally feebler tiian the Colonial ParUa-
ments to stand any strain in legislation against any strong pubUc
feeling in any one of them. . . . The Federal Council is ba^ on
the idea of initiating Federation, . . . but as it stands, it wants the
elemental strength of election. It wants the highest authority,
which is the authority of the people of the several colonies. No
Federal Council is capable of putting out strength unless it
is a Convention elected by the representatives of the people."
The writer, in an article wluch appeared in Macmillan*s Magazine
in 1885, described the Federal Council in these terms : — " It
originated in no Colonial Parliament and was suggested by no
popular movement. It is inferior in all the attributes of a gov-
erning body. It makes no provision for an executive ; it has
no power of taxation ; it cannot appropriate a penny of the
Federal revenue; it contains no provision for an appellate
judiciary to decide conflicts between federal and local authority.
It is thus a Cabinet without responsibiUty ; a Government
without authority ; an Executive without a revenue. . . It
must give rise to numberless occasions for dispute."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

might have been successful, if Lord Caxrington, the
Governor of New South Wales, had not himself supported
and encouraged Sir Henry Parkes to persevere with the
larger scheme of Union, against strong pressure by his
brother Governors.^ In 1890 a Convention was held in
Melbourne, chosen, according to the suggestion of Sir
Henry Parkes, out of the ParUaments of each colony, half
representing the Ministerialists and half the Opposition,
for the purpose of devising and reporting upon an adequate
scheme of government. The proceedings were entirely
deUberative, and were directed to obtaining expressions
of opinion on the poUcy of Federation and what should
be the leading features of a Federal Constitution. The
eloquence and personality of Sir Henry Parkes domin-
ated this assemblage, which was at fiist suspicious and
half-hearted. After a full and useful discussion, it
adjourned to Sydney, where it met in 1891 for the
purpose of framing a Constitution.

The Convention of 1891

Sir Henry Parkes presided there, and a series of resolu-
tions were submitted to the Convention as the basis of a
Draft Bill. The discussion upon these revealed an over-
whelming provincial feeling in favour of a Union after the
model of the United States. Sir Henry Parkes urged in
vain that the Canadian type was preferable, in which
the Central Government delegated limited powers to the
States, and exercised the residue itself. The Convention,
however, determined that the Commonwealth should be
carried out of the States, the latter retaining all powers
which they had not expressly parted with. The personal

^ Earl Carrington has preserved the correspondence of this
period between himself, Sir Henry Parkes, Sir Henry Loch, Gov-
ernor of Victoria, and others at this period. This will be of great
value in helping historians to understand the cross-current of the
early Federal movement. More of its success is due to Lord
Carrington than the public guesses.

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DIFFICOLTIES OF FEDERATION

element played a large part in this decision. Mr. A.
Inglis Clark, the most learned constitutionalist in the
Convention, and Sir Samuel Griffith, the keenest lawyer,
were both admirers of the United States, which the former
knew by observation as well as by books. Both of these
leaders too came from small States, where the fear that
the Central Government would be dominated by the
cities of Sydney and Melbourne was very real. Most of
the members, imf amihar with constitutional problems and
regarding with traditional reverence the Constitution of
the United States, which was then only known to English-
men by Mr. Bryce*s book, ^ were content to follow these
leaders and vote for the less centralised form of Union.
No other decision was possible at the time on account of
local fears and jealousies, which the advocates of a more
powerful central government were not able to allay by
any appeal to experience, because no other people had
tried to create a National Government out of such unequal
units as the six Australian States, and neither in Canada
nor the United States had the several interests been
apparently so irreconcilable. It was as if two New
Yorks and four Delawares or Marylands had tried to
make the United States, and, although Canada had to
face a rivalry between Ontario and Quebec neither of
these provinces menaced the independence of any other.
Nevertheless, the mistake thus made in 1891 will have
to be corrected, when the growing sense of Nationality
demands fuller expression, by re-modelling the Federation
on Canadian lines.

The Draft Bill

When the Convention separated it was intended to

submit a Draft Bill, which had been prepared by Sir

Samuel Griffith, Mr, A. Inglis Clark, Sir John Downer

and Mr. Barton,* to the 'Parliaments of all the States,

^ "The American Commonwealth/' published 1883.
* Aftowards Sir Edmund Barton.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

which were to suggest amendments for consideration at
another meeting. But these anticipations were not
reaUsed, because this Convention never re-assembled. ^
After 1891 the pubUc mind was too much occupied with
the problems of the commercial and industrial crises, to
give consideration to constitutional changes. The Labour
Party too was at that time indifferent to union and a
section of it was hostile. Nevertheless the seed which
had been sown was bearing fruit. Sir Henry Parkes
and Mr. Barton never lost hope. Small groups of men,
unconnected with party politics, formed Federal Leagues
in every city constituency ■ ; and Mr. Barton owes his
succession to the Federal leadership to the persistency
with which, undismayed by small attendances and popular
indifference, he instructed the people in Federal matters
during the four dark years which followed 1891. Not-
withstanding that he was then Attorney-General and
the real leader of the Assembly, he found time, during

^ Even while the Convention was sitting Mr. Reid had denounced
Federation, comparing, in a parable, Free Trade New South Wales,
preparing to unite wiSi five Protectionist colonies, to a teetotaller
proposing to keep house with five drunkards I He was defeated
in an amendment to the Address on Reply, proposing that
the Draft Bill should not be considered, by 67 to 35 votes ; but
next week, with another Free Trader, the late Mr. J. H. Want,
joined the Protectionist Opposition in a Vote of want of confidence
which resulted in a defeat of the Government by four votes and
a consequent Dissolution. The Labour Party appeared for the
first time in the New Parliament, demanding priority for local
measures of reform. Sir George Dibbs, a consistent opponent
of any form pf Federal union, succeeded Sir Henry Parkes, who
never again held office.

* Most of the workers for union at this time were in humble
circumstances, and very few had previously taken part in politics.
The late Mr. S. A. Byrne, a sign-painter by trade and an inde-
fatigable organiser and speaker, and Mr Thompson, of Paramatta,
a printer, who ran at his own cost for three issues a weekly paper
called The Australian Federalist, are two of many who rendered
yeoman service in those days, without any reward or recognition.
It was, indeed, a time of stirring of hearts, when it was good to
be alive.

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FEDERATION AND TARIFFS

this period, to deliver nearly two hundred scholarly
addresses on constitutional points to audiences which
often numbered less than fifty. Gradually public opinion
crystallised in favour of some form of union. But there
was still to be another period of delay. Since the Con-
vention had dispersed, local questions had come to the
front. Chief among these was a tax upon land values,
which was supported, both as a measure of finance which
might save the Free Trade poUcy of New South Wales,
and as a powerful instrument of social and economic
reform. Sir Henry Parkes, with ampler vision, refused
to divide parties upon the lines of local politics, insisting
that no true friend of Federation would choose such a
time to alter the local tariff or make other fiscal changes,
which would further compUcate the problem of Federal
finance by widening the difference between the financial
system of New South Wales and that of the other colonies.
Everyone now admits that these were the words of
msdom, but unhappily they fell at the time upon deaf
ears. Many of his supporters deUberately chose to put
the policy of land value taxation even before Federation,
and most of them have now realised that they grasped at
the shadows and lost the substance. The effect of this
action was to shelve the question of Federation for three
years.

The Convention of 1897-8

The movement was re-started from the beginning upon
lines originally suggested by Sir Henry Parkes in 1885,
and earnestly advocated in 1894 by Sir John Quick at a
meeting at Bendigo (Victoria) of the " Austrahan Natives*
Association " — a body of young men to whose loyalty and
devotion to the cause of Union its ultimate success may be
due. Ten representatives of each State, elected by popular
vote, met at Adelaide in March, 1897 — after the death of
Sir Henry Parkes — to frame a Federal Constitution.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The session was interrupted by the departure of the
Prime Minister for London to attend the Jubilee,
and was resumed in August at Sydney. In the interval
each House of Parliament in the several colonies had
suggested amendments in the Draft Bill that had been
prepared at Adelaide, upon the lines of that of 1891.
Another adjournment took place in September on account
of the imminence of a General Election in Victoria, and
the final sitting took place in Melbourne between January
20th and March 12th of the following year (1898).
Altogether the Convention was engaged for four-and-
a-haU months in the work of framing a Federal Con-
stitution. Its proceedings were marked by a dignity,
eloquence, and knowledge which deeply impressed
Australian opinion and have won the admiration of all
foreign critic^. According to the original agreement
come to between the Premiers at Hobart in 1895, the Bill,
as finally approved by the Convention, was to be sub-
mitted to a popular vote and to be considered carried
if a majority of electors voted in its favour. Every
colony passed the Act which authorised this Referendiun
upon the faith of this understanding ; but the Parliament
of New South Wales, with the acquiescence of Mr. Reid,
carried a measure while the Convention was still sitting,
repeaUng that part of the Enabling Act which provided
that a majority of votes should carry the Bill, and sub-
stituted a provision that the Bill should be considered
lost in New South Wales if at least 80,000 votes were not
recorded in its favour. As the rolls then stood, a poll of
150,000 was as large as could be expected ; so that by
this breach of faith the wishes of the majority were
thwarted and provinciaUsm gained a new lease of life.
None the less, at the first Referendum, June 18, 1898,
71,595 votes were cast in New South Wales for tiie Bill
and 66,228 against. In every other colony the Bill was
carried by overwhelming majorities, except in Western

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THE FIRST GOVERNMENT

Australia, where, by agreement between the Premiers,
the poll was to be taken a year later. The majority in
New South Wales, though ineffective to carry the Bill,
took the sting out of the opposition to it, and when after
Mr. Reid had met the other Premiers in Conference, and
a shghtly amended* Bill had been re-submitted to the
popular vote in 1899, it was carried in New South Wales
by a large majority. The spade-work of the Federalists
had told. The movement itself had taken charge and
the people had become Federalists without knowing why.
The final stage was the submission of the Bill to the
Imperial Parhament, which passed it without further
amendment than that affecting the clause which pro-
hibited appeals to the King in Council. This was
modified by giving the High Court the final word in
the interpretation of the Constitution and giving suitors
the option of appealing from a State Court either to
the High Court or the Privy Coimcil. The first Govern-
ment was formed at the end of 1899 and Ministers were
sworn in on January 1, 1900, in the Centennial Park
at Sydney. The Prince of Wales opened the first Parha-
ment in Melbourne under the King's Commission in
May of the same year. The ten years' fight was ended,
a fight of which the pubhshed and secret details — ^the
characteristics of the leaders on either side, the varying
phases of the contest, the nature of the obstacles to

^ The Bill as submitted contained the following alterations : —
"The Braddon Clause" was retained for a dc&iite period of
ten years ; the capital was not to be in Sydney ; nor anywhere
within a radius of 100 miles, but it was to be in New South Wales ;
at the joint sitting of both Houses, in the event of a deadlock,
a bare majority was substituted for a three-fifths majority, with
the addition that it must be an absolute majority. None of these
alterations, except the first, affected the provisions which had
been the special object of attack before tiie first Referendum.
They were together less than the alterations which Mr. Barton
and the Federalists offered to obtain at the General Election of
1898, but which the " Antis " then rejected as inadequate.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

be overcome, — ^will be investigated in years to come
with the same reverential curiosity which is now directed
towards the details of the struggle for American Union,
which is the only poUtical movement of modem times
among English-speaking people equal to this in permanent
importance. When history is fully written, the names
which will be held in remembrance are Parkes, Carrington,
Barton, Deakin, O'Connor — and the writer hopes — ^his
own. Many others Uved before Agamemnon ; and others
would have striven as hard, had there been any serious
contest in their own State.

NOTE TO CHAPTER

" Thb Struggle for Union "

Some account^ may be given of this memorable struggle
without interrupting the narrative. In each colony an import-
ant section of the Press was oddly critical, the politicians were
indifferent, a Labour Party was suspicious, and powerful
provincial interests formed active centres of hostility. In each
colony also the statisticians and financiers condemned the finan-
cial proposals of the Bill, but this unanimity was the less terrifying,
because these critics in each province foretold the exaltation
of the other provinces upon the ruin of their own and no two of
these agreed upon the causes of the coming disaster or the methods
of escape. The Australian Natives' Association of Victoria struck
the key-note of the contest in that State in a demonstration at
Ballarat, March, 1898, which Mr. Deakin attended, of such
importance that it forced the Age (the leading Protectionist news-
paper) from an attitude of open hostihty into a sulky acquiescence.
From that moment the success of the Bill in Victoria was assured.
Mr. Higgins, now a Judge of the High Court, led the Opposition
with good temper and ability ; but only succeeded in securing
22,099 negative votes against 100,520 ayes. Tasmania, where
the leading newspaper (Hobart Mercury) opposed the Bill, and
whose interests were undoubtedly exposed to risk by the financial
clauses, was captured by her young men, who, fired by the
enthusiasm of Victoria and helped from New South Wales, con-
ducted a spirited campaign in every part of that reputedly sleepy
island. The votes were : Ayes, 11,706 ; Noes, 2,716. In South

^ See for a further account of the struggle for Australian union
an article by the writer on " The Commonwealth of Australia *'
in The National Review, July, 1899.

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OPPOSITION TO FEDERATION

Australia the Ayes were 35,800, the Noes, 17,320. The interest
and risks of the struggle centred in New South Wales. Of all
the colonies she (like New York), from the extent and variety of
her resources, could best afford to stand alone. She was proud
of her comparative fiscal freedom, and Federation meant a
certain raising of the tariff. She had smarted for many years
under the unneighbourly taxes imposed upon her trade by hostile
tariffs and was inclined to look upon Victorian overtures for
Union as a wish to enlarge her glutted market. The magnitude
of her income from the public lands and the pernicious practices
of supplementing deficiencies in revenue by pa3dng items of
ordinary expenditure out of Loan Funds made it easy for pro-
vincialists to draw misleading comparisons between her financial
condition and that of other colonies. Thus nowhere in Australia
was it easier for ignorance to appeal to local patriotism or for
mahce to excite provincial jealousies. Speakers and writers,
who were conveniently blind to the daily loss which she was
suffering from disunion, exhausted themselves in lamentations
over the sacrifices which were demanded of the Mother Colony
and in denunciation of her avaricious neighbours. Mr. Reid,
saying that he would vote for the Bill, led t^^e campaign against
it and gave a new term to Austrahan poUtical slang. It was
called the "Yes-No" attitude. "His Aye shall be Aye, and his
Nay, Nay ; and his Yes-No shall be Yes-No." The Press organ
of the Government — The Sydney Daily Ttf/c^ra/^A— exhausted the
resources of the printer's art in pictorial and literary scare-lines
on the unsuspected risks of union. On the eve of the poll it
dispatched a terrif3dng supplement to every elector in the colony
containing a collection of these awful prognostications.

The most serious — ^but possibly a less effective — opposition
came from a curious alliance between the Labour Party and the
wealthier classes. The Labour Party objected to the constitu-
tional clauses and the " classes " took alarm at the financial.
The cry was raised against the Bill that the equal representation
of the States in the Senate destroyed majority rule, although
without this provision there would have been a Unification not
a Federation. These advocates of " majority rule " were the
first to insist that the wishes of the majority as declared by the
first Referendum should be disregarded. The wealthier classes,
on the other hand, denounced the Bill as ultra-democratic and
some of them particularly objected to the clauses which would
prevent the centralising railway policy, by which trade was forced
from its natural channels into Sydney ; the majority were afraid
of increased taxation.

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CHAPTER II

THE NATURE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Thb double aspect of Federation — Distinction between a Federal
and a Sovereign Government — ^The Sphere of the Common-
wealth — ^The National Sovereignty — Federal Powers — Special
Provisions — ^Navigation and Irrigation — DifierentiaJ Railway
Rates — ^Railway Construction.

The Proclamation of the Commonwealth on January 1,
1900, gave Australia for the first time a National Govern-
ment which could act directly for every citizen. Until
then the legislative power of a separate State had ceased
at its borders and matters of common concern, such as a
tariff or a system of defence, could only be dealt with
by agreements, for breach of which there could be no
penalty, between governments whose personnel and poUcy
was constantly changing. This was an intolerable
inconvenience. A Federal Government however could
exercise by its own inherent authority, all those powers
which no single State was able to possess or discharge,
and this was the primary purpose of the AustraUan
Commonwealth. There were also other matters, such as
the administration of Post and Telegraphs, which could
be undertaken more satisfactorily by a central authority,
and which the States surrendered to the Commonwealth
for reasons of convenience. The discharge of these
functions was a subsidiary purpose of the Union.

Thus the problem of Australia, as of every other form
of Federal union, was twofold : — ^to create a Central
Government, which should have all the powers of an
independent government, so long as it acted within the
scope of its inherent authority, and secondly, so to fix
the relations of this Government to the separate States,
that it might exercise, within the fixed limits of the

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STATE AND FEDERAL POWERS

bargain, the powers which they have surrendered to it.
In neither case is it a coraplete scheme of government,
exercising all the functions and duties undertaken by a
civilised community, because it is always itself subject
to the G)nstitution, and because the Constitution pre-
supposes the existence of the States and assumes their
wide and constant activity. Nor are the State Govern-
ments less bound than the Federal by the Constitution.
In all matters within its inherent powers or assigned to
it, the Federal Government is supreme ; in other matters
a State retains its former legislative power which is
of course still united by its territorial bounds ^ and by the
terms of its own Constitution. Even so there is a resi-
duum of power which cannot be exercised either by the
Commonwealth or by the States.

Distinction Between a Federal and a Sovereign
Government

This great distinction between the Commonwealth
and a State Parliament, — which within the very wide
Limits set by its physical boundaries and its Constitution,
is a sovereign body, exercising not a delegated but an
inherent power, — ^has not yet been fully grasped in
Australia. The public mind has been so familiarised
with a parliament, which, in Coke's quaint phrase,
" can do everjrthing but make a man a woman," that it
received a rude surprise when, on two recent occasions,
the High Court held that legislation to extend the
advantages of a protective tariff directly to the workmen
in a protected industry* was beyond the powers of the

^ It was at one time thought that the State Parliaments
exorcised a delegated authority from the Imperial Parliament.
The Privy Council in Powell v, Apollo Candle Company (1885)
held that within the limits of its Constitution a State Parliament
was supreme. This must be read now subject to the Federal
Constitution.

• See infra, p. 272.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Commonwealth. Indeed, the limited range of the
Commonwealth's legislative power is so little miderstood
that the Prohibition question and other local issues, in
respect of which the Commonwealth has no powers,
frequently figure in Federal elections. This essential
distinction between the Commonwealth and a sovereign
legislature must be constantly kept in mind during the
following discussion of the Federal Constitution.

The Sphere of the Commonwealth

The Constitution was based on resolutions, passed at
the opening session of the Convention, held at Adelaide
in 1897. The terms of these are emphatic in recognition
of the higher purposes of Australian union. A Federal
Government was not desiderated merely as an amalgama-
tion of business interests, but, in the stately language of
the preamble to the resolutions, "in order to enlarge
the powers of self-government of the people of Australia."
For this purpose it was declared "desirable to create
a Federal Government, which shall exercise authority
throughout the Federated Colonies subject to the following
principal conditions." The preamble to the Constitu-
tion Act strikes an equally high note "Whereas the
people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia,
Queensland and Tasmania,^ humbly relying on the
blessings of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one
indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
and under the Constitution hereby established."

The conditions of union referred to in the preamble
to the Adelaide resolutions, reflect the temper of the day.
The first two, placed out of logical order in deference to
susceptibilities, declare " that the powers, privileges and
territories of the several existing colonies shall remain

^ Western Australia came in as an " original State " at a later
date.

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FEDERAL MACHINERY

intact, except in respect of such surrenders as may be
agreed upon to secure uniformity of law and administration
in matters of common concern " and " that after the
establishment of the Federal Government there shall
be no alteration of the territorial possessions " [e,g,. Lord
Howe and Norfolk Islands, which were dependencies of
New South Wales] " or boundaries of any colony without
the consent of the colony or colonies concerned." Then
followed a declaration of those larger purposes of govern-
ment for the sake of which the union was about to be
formed : — ** (3) That the exclusive power to impose and
collect duties of Customs and Excise and give bounties,
shall be vested in the Federal Parhament. (4) That the
exclusive control of the military and naval defences of
the Federated Colonies shall be vested in the Federal Parha-
ment. (5) That the trade and intercourse between the
Federated Colonies, whether by land or sea, shall become
and remain absolutely free." The machinery by means
of which these objects were to be achieved was thus
described — " {a) A Parhament to consist of two Houses,
namely, a States Assembly or Senate, and a National
Assembly, or House of Representatives : the State
Assembly to consist of representatives of each Colony,
to hold office for such periods and to be chosen in such
manner as will best secure to that Chamber a perpetual
existence combined with definite responsibility to the
people of the State which shall have chosen them. The
National Assembly to be elected by districts formed oni
a population basis, and to possess the sole power of
originating all bills, appropriating revenue or imposing
taxation, (b) An Executive, consisting of a Governor-
General, to be appointed by the Queen, and of such
persons as from time to time may be appointed her
advisers, (c) A Supreme Federal Court, which shall
also be %e High Court of Appeal for each Colony in
the Federation."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The National Sovereignty

The framers of the Constitution gave effect to these
instructions in a maimer which makes the double purpose
of a Federal Union sufGiciently dear. They wisely left
uncatalogued the larger and inherent powers which
belong to the Commonwealth as a National Govern-
ment, in reliance upon the doctrine laid down by Chief
Justice Marshall, and ever since acted upon in the United
States, that "the creation of a National Government
imphes the grant of all such subsidiary powers as are
requisite to the effectuation of its main powers and
purposes.**^ This doctrine equally appUes to the exer-
cise of those powers which have been conferred upon the
Commonwealth by the States. " When once the grant
of a power by the people to the National Government
has been established— (and the search for the power
must be conducted in a spirit of strict exactitude) — that
power will be construed broadly. The people, — so
Marshall and his successors have argued, — ^when they
confer a power, must be deemed to confer a wide discre-
tion as to the means whereby it is to be used in their
service. For their main object is that it should be used
vigorously and wisely, which it cannot be if the choice of
methods is narrowly restricted ; and while the people
may well be chary in delegating power to their agents,
they must be presumed, when they do grant these powers,
to grant them with confidence in the agent's judgment,

^ This confidence received a rude shock from the decision of
the Privy Council in the case of Webb v. Outtrim (the Income
Tax cases), which denied the applicability of Marshall's doctrine
of " implied powers " to the Australian Constitution. The High
Court of Australia has refused to adopt this view ; and, as appeals
from State Courts to the Privy Counol on questions which involve
the interpretation of the Constitution are now forbidden, the
American rules of interpretation will in future prevail. Mr.
Bryce calls attention to the rigidity with which the Privy Council
has interpreted the Dominion Act, in contrast to the flexibility
of American construction.

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INHERENT POWERS

allowing all that freedom in using one means or another
to attain the desired end which is needed to ensure
success."^ This, which would in any case be the com-
mon-sense view, is fortified by the governing words of
Sect. 51, which enumerates the legislative powers of the
Commonwealth Parhament : — " The Parliament shall,
subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws
for the peace, order, and good government of the Common-
wealth with respect to," etc. . . . And by the last sub-
division of the same Section " (xxxix) Matters incidental
to the execution of any power vested by this Constitution
in the Parliament or in either House thereof, or in the
Government of the Commonwealth, or in the Federal
Judicature, or in any department or offices of the Com-
monwealth." This sub-section is the nearest approach
in the Constitution to an enumeration of the inherent
powers, which vest in the Commonwealth by the mere
fact of its existence, but it does not include all. These are
rather to be gathered from the whole Constitution than
from any single clause. Thus, in addition to the inherent
powers of the Commonwealth to legislate in respect of
its Parliament,* Government,* or Judiciary,* referred
to in Sect. 51 (xxxix), similar power is somewhat illogi-
cally conferred upon it, by Sect. 52 and 122, in respect of
Federal Territory by Sect. 52 in respect of the Federal
Civil Service, and by Sect. 90 in respect of duties of
customs and excise and boxmties. Sect. 119, which
imposes upon the Conunonwealth the duty of protecting
any State against invasion — z, duty which existed without
any statutory imposition — also gives scope for the exercise
of the inherent power of legislation. As, however, no
one can foresee the future, or foretell the circumstances

1 The above is Mr. Bryce's summary of the doctrines which
were just explained in McCulloch, v. Maryland,

• Sections 1, 3, 7. 8, 9. 30, 49, 50.
» Sections 3, 4, 61, 70.

* Sections 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, 77. 80.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

which may require the exercise of its powers by a
National Government, the Constitution, in this par-
ticular as in others, is purposely a skeleton, which time will
cover with flesh and blood. No one can yet say what
powers of development he within its pregnant phrases.^

Federal Powers
A list of matters which come within the purview of
the Federal Parliament is contained in Sect. 51 of the
Constitution, which is in these terms : —
51. The Parhament shall, subject to this Constitution,
have power to make laws for the peace, order,
and good government of the Commonwealth with
respect to : —
(i) Trade and Commerce with other countries and among
the States (•)
^ The American doctrine of development, which shocks Eng-
lish lawyers, must be recognised by the Judges of a Federal
Court, if the Constitution is not to lie, like a dead hand, upon
the people and prevent progress. "The cases which arise as
to the construction of these general words " (i.e., the Constitu-
tion) cannot be foreseen until they arise. When they do arise
the generality of the words leaves open to the interpreting Judges
a far wider field than is afforded by ordinary statistics which,
since they treat of one particular subject, contain enactments
comparatively minute and precise. Hence although the duty
of the Court id only to interpret, the considerations affecting
interpretation are more numerous than in the case of ordinary
Statutes, more delicate, larger in their reach and scope. They
sometimes need the exercise not merely of legal acumen and
judicial fairness, but of a comprehension of the nature and
methods of government which one does not demand from the
European Judge who walks in the narrow path traced for him
by ordinary Statutes." Bryce, "American Commonwealth,"
i, p. 339. Ed. 1882.

( > ) A similar clause in the United States Constitution has been
held to include legislation regarding every kind of transportation
of goods and passengers, whether from abroad or from one State to
another; regarding navigation, maritime and internal pilotage,
maritime contracts, etc., together with the control of all navigable
waters which lie in more t£an one State, the construction of all
public works helpful to commerce, etc., etc. See Baker's
" Annotated Constitution of the United States " and Bryce's
" American Conmionwealth," vol. i, p. 504. (Ed. 1883.)

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FEDERAL POWERS

(ii) Taxation, but not so as to discriminate between States

or parts of States.( * )
(iii) Bounties in the production or export of goods, but so
that such bounties shall be uniform throughout the
Commonwealth .
(iv) Borrowing money on the public credit of the Common-

wealth.( « )
(v) Postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services.
(vi) The naval and military defence of the Commonwealth
and of the several States, and the control of
the forces to execute and maintain the laws of the
Commonwealth,
(vii) Lighthouses, lightships, beacons and buoys,
(viii) Astronomical and meteorological observations,
(ix) Quarantine.

(x) Fisheries in Australian waters beyond territorial limits,
(xi) Census and statistics,
(xii) Currency, coinage, and legal tender,
(xiii) Banking, other than State banking ; also State banking
extending beyond the limits of the States concerned,
the incorporation of banks, and the issue of paper
money,
(xiv) Insurance, other than State insurance ; also State
insurance extending beyond the limits of the State
concerned,
(xv) Weights and measures,
(xvi) Bills of exchange and promissory notes,
(xvii) Bankruptcy and insolvency.

(xviii) Cop3aights, patents of inventions and designs, and
trade-marks,
(xix) Naturalisation and aliens.

(xx) Foreign corporations, and trading or financial corpora-
tions formed within the limits of the Commonwealth,
(xxi) Marriage.

(xxii) Divorce and matrimonial causes ; and in relation thereto,
parental rights, and the custody and guardianship
of infants,
(xxiii) InvaUd and old-age pensions.

(xxiv) The service and execution throughout the Commonwealth
of the civil and criminal process and the judgments
of the Courts of the States.

(^) The American Constitution adds the further limitation
that taxation must be equal. This renders an Income Tax
unconstitutional.

( * ) No money has yet (1908) been borrowed by the Common-
wealth. The Labour Party has steadily resisted any such proposal.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

(xxv) The recognition throughout the Commonwealth of the
laws, the public Acts and records, and the judicial
proceedings of the States,
(xxvi) The people of any race, other than the aboriginal race
in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make
special laws.

(xxvii) Immigration and emigration.

(xxviii) The influx of criminals,
(xxix) External affairs,
(xxx) The relations of the Commonwealth with the islands

of the Pacific,
(xxxi) The acquisition of property on just terms from any
State or person for any purpose in respect of which
the Parliament has power to make laws.

(xxxii) The control of railways with respect to transport for
the naval and military purposes of the Commonwealth.

(xxxiii) The acquisition, with the consent of a State, of any
railways of the State on terms arranged between the
Commonwealth and the State.

(xxxiv) Railway construction and extension in any State with
the consent of that State.

•(xxxv) Conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and
settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond
the limits of any one State.

(xxxvi) Matters in respect of which this Constitution makes
provision until the Parliament otherwise provides,
(xxxvii) Matters referred to the Parliament of the Common-
wealth by the Parliament or Parliaments of any
State or States, but so that the law shall extend only
to States by whose Parliaments the matter is referred,
or which afterwards adopt the law.
(xxxviii) The exercise within the Commonwealth, at the request
or with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all the
States directly concerned, of any power which can
at the establishment of this Constitution be exercised
only by the Parliament of the United Kingdom or by
The Federal Council of Australia.

(xxxix) Matters incidental to the execution of any power vested
by this Constitution in the ParUament or in either
House thereof, or in the Government of the Com-
monwealth, or in the Federal Judicature, or in any
department or o£&ce of the Commonwealth.

This Section does not as might be imagined withdraw
from the control of the States the matters which are
mentioned in it. The mere grant of a power to the
Commonwealth does not of itself, unless it is conferred

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STATE LEGISLATION

as an ** exclusive " power, imply a prohibition upon the
States to exercise the Uke power. It is not the existence
in the National Government of the power to legislate
upon any of the matters mentioned in the Thirty-Nine
Articles of Sect. 52, but the exercise of any of them,
which is incompatible with the exercise of the same power
by a State. This is made dear by the provisions of
Sects. 107, 108 and 109,* which expressly preserve all
the legislative powers of a " colony which becomes a
State," except in so far as this " may be vested exclu-
sively in the Commonwealth ParUament or withdrawn
from the Parliament of the State" (Sect. 107), and con-
tinues all laws of the colony, which were in force at the
date of its becoming a State {i.e. a member of the Com-
monwealth), with permission to alter or repeal any
which has not formed the subject of Commonwealth
legislation (sect. 108). In the event of any inconsis-
tency between the law of a State and that of the Common-
wealth, the law of the former to the extent of the incon-
sistency is invalid (sect. 109). This latter provision
effectually estabhshes the supremacy of the Common-
wealth over the States in respect of every matter which
is legally within its purview. X

In addition to the subjects of legislation mentioned
in Section 52, over all of which, except (iii) and (xxxix)

* Sect. 107. Every power of the Parliament of a colony
which has become or becomes a State, shall, unless it is by their
Constitution exclusively vested in the Parliament of the Common-
wealth or withdrawn from the Parliament of the State, continue
as at the establishment of the Commonwealth, or as at the
admission or establishment of the State as the case may be.

Sect. 108. Every law in force in a colony, which has become
or becomes a State, and relating to any matter within the powers
of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, shall, subject to this
Constitution, continue in force in the State ; and until provision
is made in that behalf by the Parliament of the Commonwealth,
the Parliament of the State shall have such powers of alteration
and of repeal in respect of any such law as the Parliament of the
colony had until the colony became a State.

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the States have a concurrent legislative power until
this is withdrawn in respect of any of them by the
exercise of the Commonwealth of its legislative power
in that behalf, the Commonwealth has a power of legisla-
tion which is exclusive of that possessed by the States
in certain matters which have been already mentioned
in the discussion of the Commonwealth's inherent
powers. ^

The powers, which are mentioned in Sections 51 and
52 and implied in other portions of the Constitution,
are the only ones which justify the Parliament in making,
or the Executive in enforcing, a law of the Commonwealth.
All other legislation and administration is left to the
States without power of interference by the Federal
Legislature or Federal Executive. The subjects com-
prised in these powers, — either because all parts of the
nation are alike interested in them or because it is only
by the nation, as a whole, that they can be satisfactorily
undertaken, — correspond with the powers of Congress
as they are thus summarised by Mr. Bryce : * — " (1) Army
and Navy ; (2) Federal Courts of Justice ; (3) Commerce,
foreign and domestic ; (3) Currency ; (4) Copyright and
patents ; (5) Postal communication ; (5) Taxation for
the foregoing purposes and for the general support of
the Government ; (6) The protection of citizens against
unjust or discriminating legislation by any State."

Yet, although the Constitution of the Conmionwealth
follows in its main lines that of the United States, its
framers have avoided some of the latter's narrowness.
Parliament, for instance, unlike Congress, can deal with
marriage and divorce. It may pass an Income Tax and
ex post facto legislation, and is not haunted by the dread
lest any of its measures should " impair the obhgation

* See supra, p. 175.

* "American Commonwealth" (i, p. 41. Ed. 1883.) In
addition the United States have the power of war and peace.

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DIVISION OF POWERS

of a contract."* Indeed, two of the matters within
its jurisdiction,— Old Age and InvaUd Pensions, and
Conciliation and Arbitration in Industrial Disputes which
extend beyond the State — ^are clear departures from the
eighteenth century doctrine of Freedom of Contract.
On the other hand, the powers of Parhament are very
inconveniently restricted in some directions. Thus,
although the Central Government controls immigration,
the States own the land, which is a chief inducement to
settlement in a new country, and up to the present the
States have refused to consider any scheme of co-operation
with the Commonwealth for the purpose of attracting
population. Industrial matters are another subject of
legislation which should properly belong to a National
Government, in order that the conditions of competitive
production should be the same, with the necessary allow-
ance for climatic variations throughout the continent.*
Equalisation of the industrial standard throughout the
continent would seem to be a corollary of that free
commercial intercourse without discrimination which is
an underlying principle of the Constitution, and an amend-
ment of the Constitution in this direction is now con-
templated. The most important power retained by the
States is the control of the poUce, which, if American
experience be a guide, may prove a useful instrument for
encroaching upon Federal authority. •

^ Much of the social and industrial legislation of England and
Australia could not be passed in America either by tiie States
or Congress in consequence of the constitutional prohibition
against laws " which impair the obligation of a contract."

• The High Court has declared (1907) that the Commonwealth
has no power to make it a condition of a protective tax that the
protected industry shaU pay fair wages. The States have no
effective machinery for enforcing such a condition, even if they
all desired it.

* Many Acts which seem to impinge upon Federal authority
have been justified in the United States by involving the doctrine
of " Pohce power," i.e., that a State should preserve order within

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Education is another large subject which lies outside
the scope of Federal action, and the Commonwealth
could not even establish an Australian University.
Obviously it could not have the Canadian power of
legislation upon all matters not coming within the
classes of subjects assigned exclusively to the legislature of
the provinces, for that would change the basis of the
Union and deprive the States of the residuum of power —
but it cannot even, like the German Bundesrath, pass
factory legislation, or a press-law, or a law controlUng the
right of association, nor unify legal procedure nor con-
sohdate the civil and criminal law, — ^unless, indeed, it be
held that some of these powers are impUed in those which
have been expressly granted.

The functions of the Commonwealth may be enlarged
at some future date, if any State surrender any portion
of its legislative power (Sect. 108) or of its territory
(Sect. Ill), or if it prefer a request to the Commonwealth
to exercise " any power which can at the estabUshment
of their Constitution be exercised only by the Parliament
of the United Kingdom or by the Federal Council of
Australia."^ Any two or more States may refer any
matter to the Commonwealth and give it legislative power
over that matter within their own boundaries (Sect. 52,
xxxvii). The laws of the ParUament have force within
the Commonwealth and " on all British ships, the Queen's
ships of war excepted, whose first port of clearance and
whose port of destination are in the Commonwealth.**
^ The principal expressed restrictions on the Common-
wealth power are those which forbid any interference

its own limits. To English lawyers this doctrine seems to have
been stretched very far.

1 New South Wales Courts, by the Charter of Justice (1826)
have jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Pacific Ocean.
This is a larger jurisdiction than that of the Federal Judiciary.
Courts of Vice- Admiralty also exist in the separate States. These
are left unchanged by the Constitution.

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OTHER PROVISIONS

with freedom of trade and intercourse within the States,
and those which are intended to prevent any alteration
in the position of the States to their prejudice ; e.g.,
Parhament cannot alter the equahty of State representa-
tion in the Senate or reduce the number of representatives
below six for each State (Sect. 7), nor can it allot to any
State less than five members in the Representative
Assembly (Sect. 24). In a Constitution framed on the
principle of specifjring the powers of the Federal Govern-
ment such expressed restrictions are illogical, but they
serve as reminders that it originated from a compact
between independent States.

Special Provisions

The inclusion of some powers among those belonging
to the Commonwealth is as noticeable as the omissions
of others to which attention was called in an earlier page.
Their presence is explained by historical causes, which
require elucidation.

The subject, " Influx of Criminals " (xxviii of Sect. 52),
and ''non-aboriginal" races for whom it may be deemed
necessary to make special laws (xxvi of Sect. 52) are notes
of local and transitory difficulties, the former in respect
of escapees from New Caledonia, the French penal settle-
ment, the latter in respect of the Kanakas in Queensland.
Others reflect more serious controversies.

Navigation and Irrigation

Section 100, for instance, which Limits the power of the
Commonwealth to deal with navigation (Sect. 98) by
conserving the right of riparian owners to use river water
for irrigation, was the outcome of a serious struggle in
the Convention between South Australia on the one
side, and New South Wales and Victoria upon the
other, as to the rights of each in the waters of the Darhng
and the Murray. By grant of the Imperial Parliament,

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

New South Wales owns all the waters of the Murray
up to the Victorian border, and this river rises in her
territory, through which also the Darling runs for the
greater portion of its course. By Common Law, New
South Wales has the right of a riparian owner to an
undiminished flow of the Murray through her territory.
South Australia has the same right in respect of her
territory. But Victoria owns the largest feeders of the
Murray and diverts their waters for irrigation. New
South Wales threatens to do the same with the northern
tributaries, the Darling and the Mumimbidgee. This
would mean that South Australia could not receive enough
water to maintain the fleet of steamers which now bring
trade to Adelaide from half-way up the river courses.
To such a country as Austraha, navigation upon a bar-
bound river would seem a trifling importance in com-
parison with the development of agriculture by the use
of its waters. But the South Australian delegation was
the ablest in the Convention, and by persistency and
skilful bargaining it procured the subordination of the
larger interest to the smaller by forbidding the Common-
wealth to impair the navigabihty of any river. It is
hoped that the three States concerned will jointly construct
works by means of which the levels of the Murray and
the Darling will be maintained, while at the same time
the waters can be freely used for irrigation.

Differential Railway Rates

An even more serious conflict is reflected in the several
clauses which forbid the discrimination between States
and require any preferential rates to be approved by an
Inter-State Commission, constituted ad hoc (Sections 92,
99, 101, 102 and 103.) This is an historical echo of a
long struggle between the four eastern States to divert
trade, each to its own capital, without regard to
geographical position. The railwa}^ were the instruments

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A WASTEFUL POLICY

in this provincial game of " beggar-my-neighbour," and
the States of New South Wales and Victoria the worst
offenders. Each made free use of differential rates,
Victoria to secure and New South Wales to keep, the trade
of the Riverina district. The Victorian railwaj^ would
carry goods to the border, if these were consigned to places
on the other side, for merely nominal rates, and New
South Wales would charge excessive rates from its border
station to the places in question, and low rates for the
longer distance between these and Sydney. South
Australia took a hand by quoting a still lower combined
steamer and railway rate and Queensland cut her rates
to Brisbane to get the trade of the North Western district
of New South Wales. The beneficiaries were the residents
within the zone of this competition, but the rest of the
inhabitants paid heavily to further the business interests
of a small dass in every capital. Unfortimate as such a
struggle was from many points of view, it was not wholly
indefensible. Although the natural outlet of most of the
trade in question was to Adelaide, Brisbane, or Melbourne,
it came from territory in regard to which New South
Wales bore all the cost of Government and which had
been developed by New South Wales Railways, which
made Sydney for practical purposes their nearest market.
In one instance a Victorian Government quoted so low a
rate from its border station to Melbourne, that practically
this paid the whole of the difference in cost of the land
and river transport of a dip to the border station, a
distance of about 100 miles and its transport to Sydney by
the New South Wales Railway, although the loading
station on this latter line was only four miles from the
wool-shed.^ Instances of preferential and differential
rates of the New South Wales and South Australian
railways could be given which are equally scandalous.

* Uardry, on the line from Sydney to Hay. This was in
1885-6.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Yet, anxious as the Convention was to end this foolish
struggle, the halting language of the Constitution reflects
the difiiculties of the task. Although "preference and
discrimination by any State '* is forbidden, this is only
if it is " undue or unreasonable or unjust to any State,*'
and of this the Inter-State Commission is the final judge
(Sect. 102). Even Parhament may not declare any rate
unlawful for carriage of goods on a Government railway,
if the rate is deemed by the Inter-State Commission, " to
be necessary for the development of the territory of the
State, and if it applies equdly to goods within the State
and the goods passing into the State from other States "
(Sect. 104). 1

Contrast these hesitating and involved provisions with
the direct prohibition to the Commonwealth. "The
Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of
trade, or commerce, or revenue, give preference to one
State or any part thereof over another State or any part
thereof*' (Sect. 99). The provincialists were ready
enough to condemn their own practices, when it became
a question of permitting them to the Commonwealth.

Preferential and differential rates were not the only
matter in connection with the railways, with regard to
which provincialists preferred the interest of the States
to the common welfare. The harmless looking provision
in number xxxiv of Sect. 52 empowering Parhament to
make laws in respect of " Railway construction and
extension in any State tenth the consent of that State,^^
enshrines the memory of another bitter controversy within
its last six words.

Railway Construction

In pursuance of her centrahsing poUcy, New South

^ Working agreements as to traffic have now been made
between the competing States. Probably however ** cutting "
of rates continues, though not to the same extent.

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RAILWAY DIFFICULTIES

Wales refused to carry any railway but her portion of the
trunk line between Brisbane and Adelaide, to the north
bank of the Murray ; she preferred instead to build rail-
ways from east to west ending nowhere, in order to divert
to Sydney the trade which in a natural order of things
would go to Melbourne or Adelaide. The Riverina
furnishes two conspicuous examples of this " dog-in-the-
manger " policy. A long spear from the trunk line runs
along the Riverina, in a peirallel course to the Murray
and ends at a town called Hay. Ninety miles further on
the Victorian railways, by means of a private Une from
the border, connect the town of Deniliquin with Melbourne.
Hitherto no representations have been able to induce the
New South Wales Government to permit of a connection
being made between DeniUquin and Hay. The same
Government has run another spur from the trunk line
into the southern portion of the same district. It stops
at Jerilderie, thirty miles from a port on the southern
bank of the Murray to which a rsdlway runs from Mel-
bourne. Another spur runs from Albury to Germanton,
The rate to Sydney from these places is made low enough
to cotmteract the advantage of proximity possessed by
Victoria. In the same spirit, New South Wales has
stopped the railway which connects her northern rivers
a quarter of a mile from the Queensland border, to which
a railway runs from Brisbane. At the Convention it was
proposed to settle all these difficulties and at the same
time the problem of finance by federalising the railwa3rs.
For this, public opinion was not yet ripe. The proposal
however put the provincialists on guard ; and the words
" with the consent of the State " were added to Sub-
section xxxiv to prevent the linking up of the New
South Wales with other systems. The proposal received
the silent vote of the South Australian delegation, for
reasons which have become apparent since the scheme
of a trans-continental railway from east to west has

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

been before Parliament. South Australia is now in a
position to block the scheme by refusing a passage for
the line, unless she can get her own terms.

Having thus dealt with the nature, sphere, and special
provisions of the National Government, it remains to
consider in what manner it is constituted and of what
departments it consists.

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CHAPTER III

THE EXECUTIVE

Thb Crown — ^The Executive Council — Responsible Government.

The Australian Constitution follows the American, in
dividing the system of government into three depart-
ments — ^Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, but unlike
its model, it maintains no clear line of demarcation
between Executive and Legislative.

The Crown

The people of the Australian States having united
"in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under
the Crown '* (Preamble), the King, whose office is the
symbol of Imperial Unity, is their natural head. But
every Constitution, which is granted to a colony, is pro
iarUo an abandonment, by the Crown and other Estates
of the Realm, of a portion of their sovereignty. In this
case, by the Australian Constitution Act, the Crown has
abandoned all its rights and powers, as regards the
Conunonwealth, except the supreme power of Peace and
War and the right to refuse assent to or annul certain
Acts of the Austrahan ParUament. Those which must be
reserved for the Royal Assent used to be specified in the
Instructions to the State Governor, but the Instructions
to the Governor-General are silent on the point.* The
power to annul is, in the interests of the Empire, left
general and unspecified. In all other matters the Crown
acts in Australia through the Governor-General : — " The
executive power of the Conunonwealth is vested in the
Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General, as

^ Probably the Governor-General in the exercise of his dis-
cretion would be guided by the rules laid down for the State
Government. See below, p. 198.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

the Queen's representative, and extends to the execution
and maintenance of this Constitution and of the laws
of the Parliament " (Sect. 61).

As such Representative, the Governor-General has the
command in chief of the naval and military forces of the
Commonwealth (Sect. 68), and, in the same capacity
he chooses, summons and dismisses Federal Executive
Councillors, who hold office during his pleasure (Sect. 62).
He also exercises all the powers and functions in regard
to the Commonwealth, which were possessed by any
State Governor in regard to his State, at the establishment
of the Commonwealth^ (Sect. 70); and the King can
further confer upon him the right to exercise, subject
to the Constitution, any powers or functions of the
Crown (Sect. 2). He is appointed by the King for a fixed
term, which has been hitherto five years, but may be
recalled at any time. A salary of ^£10,000 is attached
to the ofiice (Sect. 3). This may be reduced or increased
by ParUament; but may not be altered during any
term of office, lest the independence of the holder might
be brought into question. In the exercise of the powers
which have been already mentioned, the Governor-General
acts upon his own responsibility as representative of the
King. In other matters he acts with the advice of the
Federal Executive Coimcil ; — ^that is, he is the constitu-
tional head of a responsible government on the English
model.

The Executive Council

The Constitution places no limit to the Federal Execu-
tive Council, which might legally be increased to any
number which the Governor-General deemed necessary.
In practice, however, it is limited to the seven " King's
Ministers of State," who administer the seven departments,

^ e.g,. The Prerogative of Mercy in cases of offences against the
Laws of the Commonwealth.

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THE MINISTRY

which the Governor in Cotincil has established^ (Sect.
63) and must be members of the Council, and also
be, or become within three months of appointment
as Ministers, members of one or other House of Parlia-
ment (Sect. 64). Parliament may increase the number
of Ministers and prescribe their offices (Sect. 65). The
total of the ministerial salaries may not exceed £12,000
per annum, imtil Parliament makes other provision
(Sect. 27). Ministers on quitting office cease to be
Executive Coimcillors, according to present practice ;
but this is not a constitutional requirement.*

These few provisions contain the key to the Australian
Constitution, for which however an American or foreigner
would search the text in vain, unless he were acquainted
with the practical working of British Government. For
they presuppose a familiarity with the methods of
government, which then existed in every Australian
State, and the continuance of responsible government
is assumed without being specially enacted. At the same
time, the provisions which enable its continuance are
sufficiently wide to allow of other systems, should this one
prove unsuited to a Federation. Except that Ministers

^ The Departments already established are those of External
Affairs, the Treasury, the Attorney-General, Home Afiairs.
Trades and Customs, Defence and the Postmaster-GeneraJ. The
seven Ministers of State preside over these departments with
the Vice-President of the Executive Council and, sometimes,
an Honorary Minister from the Cabinet.

* No Australian or English reader will need to be told
that the Governor-General's apparent liberty in choosing his
Executive Council is virtually restricted by the constitutional
usage, which requires that the Ministry shall have the confidence
of i£e House of Representatives. The practice is for the Governor-
General to send for some prominent member to form a
Ministry. He arranges the distribution of portfolios and submits
these to the Governor-General for approval. Theoretically the
Governor can disapprove of any name, and doubtless a tactful
Governor can often influence a Premier in the formation of his
Biinistry ; but he is by usage required to accept the whole list
when it is formally presented for his approval.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

must sit in Parliament, there seems no limit to the changes
which might be made with the acquiescence of the
Governor-General, in the method of appointment, tenure
of office, or function. No part of the Constitution evinces
greater sagacity and foresight. Consider for a moment
the nature of the problem which the framers of the
Constitution had to solve.

Responsible Government

Most of these men had been Ministers of the Crown in
their respective colonies, and all were so familiar with
the practice of responsible government that they would
not willingly have established any other. Yet many
doubted whether it would be possible to preserve
responsible government in a federal system. ^ One of the
ablest representatives of the smaller States, Sir Richard
Baker* (South AustraUa), was a convinced disbeliever in
the compatibihty of the two S3^tems. " Either federa-
tion," he wrote, " will destroy responsible government,
or responsible government will destroy federation ! . . .
There cannot be a responsible government which is
responsible to two Houses." There seemed mo logical
outiiet from this dilemma.

Driven to make a choice, the Convention, as we shall
see in the next chapter, preferred rather, to preserve the
practice of responsible government, than the logical
cohesion of the Federal idea. The future however was
by no means clear. The Senate, although it might be
ultimately driven to admit the supremacy of the House of

^ Responsible government requires (1) the collective responsi-
bility of the Cabinet ; (2) that Ministers should have a majority
in the House which controls supplies ; (3) that they should have
a common and concerted policy ; (4) that they should recognise
the Leadership of the Prime Minister ; (5) that the resignation of
the Prime Minister should carry with it the resignation of the
whole Cabinet.

* Afterwards the first President of the Senate.

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THE CABINET

Representatives, yet retained so much more power than
the Upper Chamber of any colony, except Victoria, that
its obedience to a majority in the House of Representa-
tives appeared problematical. Drawing their power from
the same source as the House of Representatives, namely
adult suffrage, but drawing it in the concentrated form
of support from large constituencies, * and holding office
for six years instead of three, might not Senators develop
an unmanageable corporate pride ? And as a State House
were they not bound to place State interests before every-
thing ? No Cabinet can Uve in perpetual constitutional
conflict. Therefore, while retaining responsible govern-
ment, it seemed wise to leave the way open for its modifi-
cation or abolition, should new conditions make either
necessary.

Responsible government, then, with the collective
Cabinet responsibility which it impUes, is the cardinal and
distinctive feature of the Australian Constitution. • Will
the experiment succeed ? Even such enthusiastic federal-
ists as the late Mr. David S3ane and Mr. Inglis Clark often
felt doubts on the subject.

The discussion of such a question involves a discussion
of the character of ParUament, because, as Mr. Bryce has

^ Senators are returned by the vote of each colony voting as
one constituency, except in Queensland, where there are three
electoral divisions ior tlie Senate.

* In the United States the Executive is completely separated
from the Legislature to the harm of both. No Minister can hold
a seat in Congress. The Cabinet is responsible individually to
the President, and collectively neither leads a party nor frames
a policy. Congress thus deprived of leaders, flounders in a chaos
of business, wMch covers up much incompetence and corruption.
Its members, as Mr. Bryce puts it, are " architects without
science, critics without experience, censors without responsi-
bility." In Canada, which also has responsible government,
the difficulties caused by the composition of the Australian
Senate are absent. Canada is an example rather of a limited
unification than a Federation ; and its Soiators are appointed
by Ministerial nomination.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

pointed out, one consequence of the S}rstem is the merging
in Parliament of the legislative and executive powers.
The right of the majority of the House of Commons to
displace a Ministry, whose actions it disapproves, in-
directly makes the House a dictator of Ministerial poHcy.
Parliament is the real government of the country, only
it acts through Ministers whom it has itself chosen.
It is forced by its unwieldy size to leave so large a measure
of its discretion to its trusted agents that they appear
distinct from it, but the real Executive is the majority
which keeps him in office. And as the legislature is in a
sense executive, so the Executive, or Cabinet, has legisla-
tive power, because the initiation and passing of measures
rests mainly with them. They are legislative leaders as
well as executive agents. Accordingly the enquiry into
the working of responsible government will be properly
postponed until the nature of the Commonwealth
ParUament has been explained.

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CHAPTER IV

PARLIAMENT

Thb Govemor-Geiieral — ^The Senate— The House of Representa-
tives — Relations between the two Houses — ^The States
House— Money Bills — ^Deadlocks — ^Tacking — ^Limitation of
the Legislative Power — ^The Prerogative — Fundamental Laws.

The first section of the Constitution provides that " The
legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in
a Federal ParUament which shall consist of the Queen, ^
a Senate, and a House of Representatives."

The Governor-General

The King by English law is part of Parliament, as well
as head of the Executive. All laws are made in his name *
and must receive his assent.

The legislative functions which the King still exercises
in the Commonwealth are Umited, as has been already
explained, to giving or withholding assent to reserved
Bills, or annulling within one year of its passage any Act
which might be prejudicial to the larger interests of the
Empire. In all otiier respects the Grovemor-General
performs the legislative as well as the executive functions
of the Crown as representative of the King.

Thus all Bills are presented to the Governor-General

^ This Act was passed in 1900, before the death of Queen
Victoria.

* " Be it enacted by the King's Most ExceUent Majesty by
and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Tem-
poral, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled
at. . . . "

The . corresponding enacting clause of the Commonwealth
Acts is as follows : —

" Be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, the
Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth
of Australia, as follows. ..."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

for his assent in the King's name and do not become Acts
of Parliament until this has been given. His Instructions
do not require him to reserve for His Majesty's consent
any Bill, But probably he would be guided in the
exercise of this discretion, to assent to or reserve for His
Majesty's pleasure, any Bill which came within the class
of measures to which a State Governor is prohibited from
assenting by his Instructions, namely, (1) any Bill dealing
with divorce ; (2) any Bill whereby any donation or grant
of money or gratuity may be made to himself ; (3) any
Bill affecting currency [the power to legislate about
currency is, however, expressly granted to the Conunon-
wealth Parliament] ; (4) any Bill which is inconsistent
with the obligation of a Treaty ; (5) any Bill of an
extraordinary nature and importance whereby the Royal
Prerogative or the rights and property of residents in the
State, or the trade and shipping of the United Kingdom
and its Dependencies may be prejudiced ; (6) any Bill
containing provisions to which the Royal Assent has been
once refused or which has been disallowed by His
Majesty. ^

Further, as stated above, any Act, although it has been
assented to in the King's name by the Governor-General,
may be annulled by the King, within one year from the
date of such assent (Sect. 59). The Governor-General
also, as representative of the King, summons, prorogues,
dissolves Parliament, subject to an obligation to hold a
session once in each year, and not to allow twelve months
to intervene between two sessions (Sect. 6). Writs for
the election of members of the House of Representatives
run in the name of the Governor-General, since it is fitting
that the representative of the National Government
should summon the National House.* Writs for the

^ These Instructions are dated Oct. 18, 1900. They permit the

Governor to assent to any of these measures in case of urgency.

* So-caUed in the Convention Resolutions. See infra, p. 175.

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Senate, which is the State House, are appropriately issued
by the respective State Governors, at the request of the
Governor-General (Sect. 12). A power is also given to
the Governor-General, which is unknown to the British
Constitution, of taking a direct part in legislation by
returning any proposed law to the House in which it
originated, and ' ' transmitting therewith any amendments
which he may recommend. And the House may deal
with the recommendation " (Sect. 58). This power would
doubtless only be exercised imder exceptional circum-
stances ; but its existence in the Constitution indicates
the confidence of the Australian democracy that the Crown
will always select a fit representative.

The Senate

The two Houses in which, with the King, the legislative
power of the Commonwealth is vested, bear a superficial
resemblance, in their respective functions, to the Senate
and House of Representatives of the United States, or
the House of Lords and House of Commons in Great
Britain. But the differences between the Australian
Parliament and Congress or the British ParUament are
so considerable, that readers should be cautioned
against applying American or EngUsh standards to the
examination of the Australian system.

The Senate consists of six senators from each State,*
directly chosen by the people of the State, voting, until
the Parliament otherwise provides, as one electorate
(Sect. 7),* and must be at least twenty-one years of
age, electors of a State, for three years at least resident
in the Commonwealth, and subjects of the King, either

^ Senators in the United States are elected by the State
Legislatures : in Canada they are nominated for life by the
Ministry of the day.

* The same section allows the Queensland Parliaments to
divide the State into three electoral districts for the election of
Senators.

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natural bom or for five years naturalised (Sect. 34). A
candidate must not be under certain disqualifications,
viz., a subject or citizen, or under any acknowledgment
or allegiance to, a foreign power ; attainted of treason or
under sentence to a term of imprisonment for longer than
one year ; an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent ; the
holder of any office under the Crown or a pensioner of the
Crown out of the revenues of the Commonwealth, except
Ministers of the Commonwealth or of a State, or naval
and military officers in receipt of pay or pension, whose
services are not wholly employed by the Commonwealth ;
any person contracting directly or indirectly for the public
services of the Commonwealth, except as a member of an
incorporated company of more than twenty-five persons.
The seat becomes forfeited if a senator comes under any
of the above disqualifications ; becomes bankrupt or
insolvent : directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take
any fee or honorarium for services rendered to the
Commonwealth, or for services rendered in the Parliament
to any person or State (Sects. 44 and 45). A senator
sitting after his seat has become forfeited incurs a penalty
of £100 a day, which may be recovered by a common
informer (Sect. 46). Senators are elected for six years
and are eligible for re-election. One-half retire every
three years, so that the body has a perpetual existence,
and the whole of it is never renewed at the same time
(Sect. 13). In the event of a vacancy occurring during
the currency of a triennial period, it is filled by the
Houses of both branches of the Legislature of the State,
for which the vacancy has occurred, sitting and voting
together. If this legislature is not in session the Governor
of the State, in Council, nominates a person to hold
the place imtil the expiration of fourteen days from the
next session of the State Parliament. At the next general
election of Members of the House of Representatives,
or at the next election of senators for the State,

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THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

whichever first happens, a successor shall, if the term
be not then e3cpired, be chosen and fill the vacancy until
the expiration of the term (Sect. 13). Questions arising
in the Senate are determined by a majority of individual
votes, and the President has in all cases one vote (Sect. 23).
One-third of the Senate constitutes a quorum, but
Parliament may reduce or enlarge this (Sect. 22).

The Senate, unlike the Senate of the United States,
only possesses legislative functions. It has to concur in
all measures before they can become law, and their
powers except as to certain bills are the same as those of
the House of Representatives. The significance of this
restriction wiU be considered in the discussion of the
relations between the two Houses.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is chosen directly by the
people of the Commonwealth (Sect. 24), voting on a popu-
lation basis in electorates defined by the respective
State Parliaments (Sect. 29) * on a uniform adult suffrage.
Five members at least must be chosen from each original
State, and the total number of representatives is as nearly
as practicable seventy-two, or twice the number of the
Senators (Sect. 24). The quota for each constituent
State is determined by dividing the number of the people
of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senatb||^
This works out at about 50,0(X) voters to each representa-
tive. The present apportionment of members to gwih
State is,— New South Wales, 27; Victoria, 22; Quefcs-
land, 9 ; South Australia, 7 ; Western Australia^ 5 ;
Tasmania, 5 ; — ^Total, 75 members. The qualifications
and disqualifications of representatives are the same as
those of senators (Sects. 34, 43,45,46). Writs are issued

^ If the States did not define electoral districts, the Common-
wealth Parliament could do so. Failing this the State would
form one electorate ; and Senators and Representatives would
be elected by the same constituency.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

in the name of the Governor-General (Sect. 32), and the
duration of the House is three years from its first meeting,
but it may be dissolved sooner by the Governor-General
(Sect. 28). The Speaker, unlike the President of the
Senate, has no vote (Sect. 40). The powers, privileges and
immunities of both Houses and of the members and
conunittees of each, are such as shall be declared by
Parliament and imtil declared shall be those of the House
of Commons and its members and conunittees at the
establishment of the Conunonwealth (Sect. 49). Each
House has power to make Standing Orders (Sect. 50).

Relations Between the Two Houses

A correct understanding of the relations between the
Senate and the House of Representatives requires some
familiarity with a long-staiiding constitutional struggle
which was transferred from the poUtical arena of the
States to the floor of the Federal Convention.

Every colony, following English example, had two
Houses of Parliament, the one — the Legislative Coimcil,
usually representative of the mercantile and landed
interests — the other — the Legislative Assembly — elected
on a wide suffrage and democratic in opinion. The
struggles between these two Chambers had been frequent
and bitter, and many devices had been tried to overcome
the opposition of the Council to the more radical measures
of the Lower Houses. The most effective was un-
doubtedly the constitution of the Upper House by
nominees of the Govemor-in-Council. This plan gave the
Second Chamber something of the influence and attributes
of the House of Lords. It was constrained by its own
traditions to yield before any dear manifestation of the
popular will, and could at any time be coerced by the
appointment of new members. On the other hand, the
apparently more democratic device of elective Upper
Chambers, as in Victoria and South Australia, had proved

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THE MONEY PAWN

a constant source of political trouble. On whatever
suffrage or by whatever electorate a Legislative Council
was elected, it could resist any measure of the Assembly,
so long as it retained the support of its own constituents,
and this could only be ascertained by a General Election,
which would be punitive to the Assembly also. Dead-
locks between the two Houses were consequently frequent.
One in particular in Victoria, between 1868 and 1873,
had brought the colony to the verge of revolution. The
last weapon in the armoury of the Assembly was the
power of refusing suppUes or imposing taxation. Con-
sequently any attempt by a Council to interfere with a
money bill was jealously watched and invariably
resisted. The possession of the *' money pawn " became
at last the deciding factor in these constitutional struggles.
In spite of these difficulties in the way of harmonious
working between the two Houses, no proposal for a single
chamber had found favour. It became, consequently,
from the first, a matter of general agreement that there
must be two Houses in any form of Federal union. There
was not, however, the same unanimity as to their relative
powers.

The States House

From the beginning of the Federal movement a party
had advocated what was called to the end of the con-
troversy " majority rule," which meant that a majority
of voters on a population basis should be able, through
their representatives, to enforce their wishes upon all
occasions. Queensland, Tasmania, and South Australia
were inexorable against this or any other form of limited
unification, which they feared would mean, in practice,
the supremacy of the two large cities, Sydney and Mel-
bourne, whose inhabitants, out of touch with their own
country districts, knew nothing of the many difficulties
of the remote States. They insisted, too, that on historic

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

as well as theoretic grounds, the union must be Federal,
and made it plain that they would prefer to continue
separate, unless their identity as States was preserved in
the union. It is evident now, after eight years* trial of
union, that these demands undervalued the national
sentiment and were based on the delusion that parties
would divide upon the issue of Commonwealth versus
States. In fact, party divisions have never been upon
State lines and are not likely to become so, while nothing
indicates that the States will ever group themselves, as a
body, in opposition to the Commonwealth. In 1891,
however, and onwards, the apprehensions of the smaller
States seemed less unreasonable, and at any rate it
was plain to all that without the required concession,
there could be no union. Thus, from the outset of its
deliberations, the Convention of 1897 was pledged to a
S5^tem of Federal union, which meant in practical working
that before any measure became law, it should be
approved by a majority of federating States, as well as
by a majority of the people of Australia.

Accordingly the most conspicuous and what was at
the time deemed the most important function of the
Senate was that it should be, in the language of the
Adelaide Resolutions, a "States House," which should
represent the several States, as States, in the Federal union.
It logically followed from the conception of a national
union which was based upon the consent, not of the
people as a whole, but of the States, that each State — ^the
smallest with the biggest — should be on equality with the
others in the States House. The equal representation of
States in the Senate is thus a fundamental principle of
the Australian union. No law of Parliament can ever
alter it — although Parliament may increase the number
of Senators — and no State can be deprived of its equaUty
of representation without its own consent (Sect. 7). Not
reassured by these provisions, the delegates from the

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MONEY BILLS

smaller States carried the doctrine of State equality in a
States House to the extreme of an insistence that the
power of each House of Parhament should be identical.

Money Bills

The first struggle raged at Adelaide over the question
of Money Bills and the fate of the Constitution hung in
the balance for many days. At one time the hope of
settlement had been almost abandoned and had a division
been taken at the anticipated hour, a majority would have
been recorded in favour of the States Right doctrine that
the Senate should have an equal power with the House
of Representatives in respect of taxation. Calmer heads
suggested an adjournment until next day, when three
representatives from Tasmania^ and one from South
Australia,' whose names deserve grateful remembrance,
rejected the urgent representations of the delegates
from Victoria and New South Wales, and voted, for the
sake of union, • in favour of the supremacy of the House
of Representatives in money matters.

As might have been anticipated in a British assembly,
the final result was a compromise. The House of Repre-
sentatives retains the power of the purse, as an essential
instrument of national sovereignty. Consequently all
Appropriation and Taxing Bills ^ must originate in that
Chamber, and cannot be amended by the Senate, although
they may be rejected. The Senate however may return
any such Bill with suggestions* — a distinction which is
not, as some critics have thought, without meaning, but

^ Messrs. Henry, Lewis, and Brown.
« Mr. Glyim.

* The late Sir Joseph Abbott, then Speaker of the New South
Wales Assembly negotiated the concession.

* " Proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys, or
imposing taxation, shall not originate in the Senate." (ScK^t 53.)

* This provision was copied from the South Australian
Constitution.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

one which retains to the House of Representatives full
responsibility for the final shape of the measure. The
Senate moreover cannot amend any Bill so as to increase
any charge or burden upon the people. In all other
respects it has equal legislative power.

The same struggle was renewed over the provisions
which dealt with cases of conflict between the two Houses,
and was not decided until the final session of the
Convention in Sydney.

Deadlocks

On the one side it was urged that to deprive the Senate
of a power of veto rendered the equal representation of
the States an illusory safeguard and was taking away
with the one hand what had been given with the other ;
that conflicts were not likely to arise over any of the
thirty-nine subjects within the legislative power of ParUa-
ment, and that if they did occur, a majority of Senators,
who it was assumed would represent a majority of
States, ought not to be coerced by the representatives
of larger populations. " Deadlocks," it was argued in
words borrowed from Mr. Bryce, ^ " are not always
disadvantageous ; they are also the price that must be
paid for Constitutional freedom, and can only be avoided
in a Despotism." True, however, to its beUef in the
necessity of maintaining the supremacy of one House,
as an essential condition of national sovereignty, the
Convention, on the motion of the writer at Adelaide, made
both Houses Uable to simultaneous dissolution if the
Houses of Representatives twice passed a Bill to which
the Senate declined to agree. This, it was argued, was a
suflicient safeguard against factious opposition to minis-
terial proposals, or imperviousness to popular ideas from
excess of senatorial dignity. It was not, however,
sufl&cient to satisfy Victoria and New South Wales. In

* ** American Commonwealth." Vol. I. Ch. IX.

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MAJORITY RULE

both these colonies the equal representation in the Senate
had met with strong opposition. The anti-Federalists,
fixing attention only on the Senate, and conveniently
ignoring the fact tiiat representation in the House of
Representatives was on a population basis, artfully
declared that Tasmania had six times the voting power of
New South Wales, although their respective populations
were as 200,000 to 1,200,000. In both colonies the ghosts
of dead controversies between the two Houses of the local
legislature still walked the political field, and Liberals
and Conservatives alike discussed tUe fxmctions of a
Federal Senate as though it were a local Upper House.
Memories of traditional conflicts so overpowered the
popular judgment, that a Senate to be elected by all the
people of every State on the widest possible suffrage, was
pictured as a body of Conservatives, the Umitation of
whose power became a democratic cry. The thought
may have been confused, but the aim was direct enough.
On the question of the final supremacy of the national
will there could be no concession. To allow even the
people of a majority of States to thwart the wish of a
majority of the Australian people would ensure the
rejection of the Bill by Victoria and New South Wales,
the two States whose adhesion was essential to any union.
Accordingly it was agreed that if after the dissolution of
both Houses, which had been already agreed to, the
difference between them was still imsettled, a joint sitting
should be held, at which a majority of three-fifths of the
members present and voting could pass the Bill in dispute.
This provision was accepted the more readily by the dele-
gates from the smaller colonies, because they beUeved
that no difficulty would be likely to arise between the
two Houses, which would not be settled by the joint
dissolution. The majority of three-fifths was changed
after the first Referendum into an absolute majority.
This had been proposed at the Convention by Sir George

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Turner (Victoria), but was opposed at that time by Mr.
Reid (New South Wales).

. Tacking

The delegates of the smaller States secured some
important provisions for the protection of the Senate
against a wanton exercise by the House of Representatives
of its superior power. Section 54 of the Constitution is
an example. It provides that " the proposed law which
appropriates revenue as moneys for the ordinary annual
services of the Government shall deal only with such
appropriations." Again Section 55 provides that, " Laws
imposing taxation shall deal only with the imposition of
taxation, and any provision therein dealing with any other
matter shall be of no effect. Laws jnposing taxation,
except laws imposing duties of customs or of excise, shaU
deal with one subject of taxation only ; but laws imposing
duties of customs shall deal with duties of customs only,
and laws imposing duties of excise shall deal with duties
of excise only.*' These provisions are of historic interest,
because they recall the great contest in Victoria between
the two Houses, in which the final victory rested with the
Assembly by the use of the device of tacking, which
these provisions have forbidden in the Commonwealth.
The Senate can never, hke a Legislative Council, be
placed in the invidious position of either rejecting the
Appropriation Bill and thus leaving the pubhc service
unprovided for, or accepting some obnoxious measure,
which has been tacked to it. Nor can it be forced to
accept a tax, which it dislikes by inserting this in a
measure of taxation which in other respects it favours.
The combined effect of the provisions of the Constitution
which affect the relations of the two Houses is to secure
the ultimate supremacy of the House of Representatives
in all matters in dispute between them, and to keep the
power of taxation with the direct representatives of the

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LIMITS OF POWER

people, while giving every fair opportunity of criticism
to the States House, and even permitting it as a revising
Chamber to give the people, who are the final arbiters,
an opportunity of re-consideration: Up to the present
time there have been no conflicts between the two
Chambers.

It must not be supposed that Federalists favoured
equality of State representation in the Senate from
conviction of its sounchiess as a principle. No alternative
was left them, if they wished for union because without
equal representation in that House the smaller States
would never have entered into a Federal system. That
the device has produced none of the anticipated conse-
quences, is due to the fact that the apprehensions which
caused its adoption had no substantial basis. The useful-
ness of the Senate as a revising and legislative Chamber
has been due to the obhteration of its original function
as a States House. And in this sense responsible
government is "killing Federation." The loss is not
mourned.

Limitations of the Legislative Power

The Commonwealth ParUament, being in a Federal
system, is not, as has been explained, ^ sovereign Uke the
British. It remains to state its Umitations.

In the first place, the Prerogative of the Crown, except
in so far as this has been abandoned by assent to Acts of
Parliament limiting its exercise or delegated to the
Governor-General, remains in iv3l force in Australia as
in England. Neither Commonwealth nor State could
declare war, and members of the Australian military
forces — ^as has been decided by the Privy Council in a
recent case,* which, although it has not yet attracted
much attention, is a constitutional landmark — ^are none

1 Supra, p. 197.

* Hawarth v. Walker, 1905, Appeal Cases.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

the less " soldiers of the King,** because they serve the
Commonwealth. The Constitution itself recognises the
Prerogative in the sections which refer to the power of the
King to annul Acts, although these may have been
assented to in his name by the Governor-General, within
one year from the date of such assent. Probably this
power would only be exercised to protect the larger
interests of the Empire, but, in its terms, it is unrestricted.
The King also assents or refuses assent to all Bills which
the Governor-General by his instructions is required to
reserve for the Royal pleasure. All these measures are
reserved and dealt with by virtue of the Prerogative,
which may be f oimd in practice to limit the powers of the
Commonwealth in unexpected wa3rs.

Secondly, restrictions are placed upon the legislative
power by the terms of the Constitution.

Fundamental Laws

No Act of Parliament can alter the fundamental
basis of the union — ^the equal representation of States in
the Senate — ^by six senators to each State — although it
may increase the number of Senators (Sect. 7). Nor can
it reduce below five the number of Representatives to
be apportioned to each State on a population basis (Sect.
24), Nor could it abolish the office of Governor-General or
the Judiciary, because these are as much a part of the
Constitution as Parliament itself. Nor can any Act of
Parliament amend the Constitution, without concurrence
of a majority of both people and States (Sect. 128). Nor
can it sdter the salary of a Governor-General during nis
term of office (Sect. 3), nor construct a railway in a State
(Sect. 52, xxxiv), nor deprive it of territory (Sects. 123 and
124), except for the purpose of forming a Federal capital
(Sect, 125), or with its consent. Nor can it impose
any kind of tax upon the property of a State (Sect.
114) ; or establish or prohibit any rehgion or establish

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FURTHER LIMITATIONS

a reUgious test (Sect. 115). Another group of limitations
on the legislative power is directed to the preserva-
tion of freedom of intercourse of trade and persons
between the States and the prevention of invidious
discrimination between States or their citizens (Sects. 92,
99, 117). All the Umitations in this group are equally
binding on the States, who are further expressly forbidden
to maintain a military force without permission from the
Conunonwealth (Sect. 114), or to coin money or make
an3rthing but gold and silver coin a legal tender in payment
of debts (Sect. 115). They are also under a prohibition
to tax Commonwealth property (Sect. 114), and have no
jurisdiction over any of the matters which, by the Consti-
tution, belong exclusively to the Commonwealth or are
withdrawn from the State Parliament (Sects. 107, 108).
Any law of a State which is inconsistent with a law of
the Commonwealth is invalid to the extent of the
inconsistency.

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CHAPTER V

THE JUDICIARY

Tbb Judiciary and the Constitution — Appellate Jurisdiction —
Original Jurisdiction — ^The Guardian of the Constitution.

By Sect. 71 of the Constitution " the judicial power of the
Commonwealth is vested in a Federal Supreme Court, to
be called the High Court of Australia, and in such other
federal courts as the Parliament creates, and in such other
courts as it invests with federal jurisdiction. The High
Court shall consist of a Chief Justice, and so many other
Justices, not less than two, as the Parliament prescribes.**
These words make the High Court as much an essential
part of the Commonwealth as the Governor-General or
the Parliament. The judicial functions of the Court can
never therefore be encroached upon or interfered with
either by the Legislature or the Executive, nor can any
duties be assigned to it which are not properly judicial
and to be performed in a judicial manner. In this respect
the High Court differs from the Supreme Court either of the
Dominion of Canada or of any Australian State, because
all of these are created by legislative enactment and
can therefore have their powers amended or defined by the
same power.

It would seem to follow from the nature of the High
Court, that any law which purported to reverse one of its
decisions woiQd be unconstitutional and inoperative,
since the rights of citizens can only be determined by the
authority which possesses the judicial power. Parlia-
ment could no doubt enact the law for future cases, but
it could not deprive a litigant of rights which he had
acquired by a decision of the High Court. * That is to

^ See on this point " Annotated Constitution of the Common-
wealth," by Quick and Garran, p. 722.

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THE COURTS

say, the L^;islature may over-rule a decision but may
not reverse it.

The distinction between Executive, Legislative and
Judicial powers which runs through the Commonwealth
Constitution would seem to deprive the High Court of
all right to interfere with the exercise of the political
discretion of the Executive. Thus, it could not grant
an injunction to restrain a Minister of State from taking
any action which did not interfere with the personal or
civil rights of a citizen.

The Federal Courts, other than the ffigh Court, are
created by Parliament and are not, like the former, an
essential part of the Constitution. They can therefore
be called into existence or abolished at the will of Parlia-
ment but in other respects they will have the purely
judicial functions of the High Court.

Appellate Jurisdiction

The High Court of Australia differs from the Supreme
Court of the United States, in being a Court of Appeal
from the Supreme Courts of the several States. Its
decisions are final except in so far as they are liable to be
reversed by the Privy Council. Every citizen of the
Empire has a right, of which he cannot be deprived by any
legislature, of submitting his case to the final adjudication
of the King in Council. It does not however follow that
the King, as the fountain of Justice, will exercise his
prerogative right to review the decision of any of his
Courts in every case in which it is involved. The Common-
wealth Constitution for instance requires that a Utigant
must obtain special leave from the Privy Council, before
the Judicial Committee will entertain an appeal from a
judgment of the High Court, and it empowers Parliament
to limit the matters upon which such leave may be asked.
But every proposed law containing such Umitation must
be reserved for the Royal Assent. The Constitution

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further limits the right of appeal to the Privy Council by
prohibiting all such appeals " from a decision of the High
Court upon any question, howsoever arising, as to the
Umits inter se of the Constitutional powers of the Com-
monwealth and more of any State or States, or as to the
hmits inter se of the Constitutional powers of two or more
States, unless the High Court shall certify that the
question is one which ought to be determined by Her
Majesty in Council ** (Sect. 74).

Original Jurisdiction

The original jurisdiction of the High Court is either
conferred by the Constitution or derived from Parliament.
The Court has original jurisdiction by the Constitution
" in all matters, (i) Arising under any Treaty : (ii) Affect-
ing consuls or other representatives of other countries :
(iii) In which the Commonwealth, or a person suing or
being sued on behalf of the Commonwealth, is a party :
(iv) Between States, or between residents of different
States, or between a State and the resident of another
State : (v) In which a writ of mandamus or prohibition or
an injunction is sought against an officer of the Common-
wealtii " (Sect. 75). * Parliament may also confer original
jurisdiction upon the High Court ** In any matter
(i) Arising imder this Constitution or involving its inter-
pretation : (ii) Arising under any laws made by the Parlia-
ment : (iii) Of Admiralty, and maritime jurisdiction :
(iv) Relating to the same subject-matter claimed under the
laws of different States." (Sect. 76). Parhament has as
yet only exercised this power in respect of the first dass
of matters in this group. The others remain within the
jurisdiction of the State Courts. Parliament can also,
under Sect. 71, invest the State Courts with Federal

^ The reader is referred for a detailed explanation of these
matters to Bryce : " American Commonweal^/' Pt. I, Chapter
XXII.

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THE HIGH COURT

jurisdiction. Congress in the United States has no sach
power.

The procedure of the High Court has been prescribed
by Parliament but no other Federal Court has as yet been
created. The Court sits periodically at the capital cities
of the several States, and up to the present time the bulk
of its business has been the hearing of appeals from the
State Courts. The Judges (five in number) are appointed
for life and can only be removed upon an address of both
Houses of Parliament. Their salaries are : the Chief
Justice, 3£3,000; the Justices, £2,500 each. By an
ill-judged economy no pensions attach to the offices, and
the salaries are less than those paid to the Judges of the
Supreme Court in New South Wales and Victoria. This
inferiority in the emoluments has fortunately not yet
affected the standing of those accepting the offices, but
it cannot be considered desirable that the less important
judicial post should be better paid.

The Guardian of the Constitution

The High Court is at once the guardian and the inter-
preter of the Constitution. Its function is to restrain
the operations of each organ of the Constitution and of
each constituent part of the Commonwealth within their
proper ambits, and to refuse to give effect to any direction
of a Minister of the Commonwealth, or of the Parliament
itself, or of the Parliament or Minister of a State, which
goes beyond the powers of the directing authority. This
is the inevitable function of a Court which is called upon to
interpret a written Constitution — ^just as it is the function
of a Court in England to decide whether a pubhc body
exceeds its statutory authority or a Limited Liabihty Com-
pany acts beyond the power conferred upon it by its
Articles of Association. Simple and obvious as this func-
tion is, when it is exercised in regard to subordinate authori-
ties, it seems novel and surprising to most Enghshmen

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

when it is exercised in regard to an Act of Parliament.
Yet a legislative body, which owes its existence to a statute,
— ^as both the Parliaments of each State and that of the
Conmionwealth owe their existence to Acts of the British
Parliament — can no more go beyond the powers which the
statute confers upon it, than a municipality in England
can pass bye-laws upon matters which are outside the
scope of its authority. English people are so accustomed
to the supremacy and unrestrained powers of the British
Parliament that it shocks their sense of fitness when the
Court declares an Act of Parliament unconstitutional,
because this seems to fetter liberty of action and transfer
the legislative authority from the elected representatives
in Parhament to the Judges. Yet, as Mr. Bryce points
out in explaining the similar functions of the Supreme
Court of tiie United States, " There is really no mystery
about the matter. It is not a novel device. It is not a
comphcated device. It is the simplest thing in the world
if approached from the right side." The appearance of
novelty and comphcation is caused by the fact that the
Constitution has assigned certain powers of legislation to
the Commonwealth Parliament and certain others to the
State Legislature. Consequently, the Court in applying
any statute is compelled to enquire whether it is within
the powers of the Parhament by which it was enacted.
If it is a statute of a State Parhament, which is incon-
sistent with a statute of the Commonwealth Parhament,
then, as the nation takes precedence of the State, the
statute of the Commonwealth is preferred to that of
the State. Or again, if the statute of the Common-,
wealth exceeds the power which the Constitution has
conferred upon the Commonwealth Parhament, it is
of no more effect than the imauthorised act of any
other body of hmited authority. "In all this," as
Mr. Bryce points out, "there is no conflict between
the law courts and any legislative body. The conflict is

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FUNDAMENTAL LAWS

between different kinds of laws." And the State Courts
are equally bound with the Federal Courts to exercise
their judicial determination as to the validity of the laws
which they are called upon to administer. The questions
are always the same, viz., Whether an Act of the Common-
wealth Parliament is compatible with the Constitution
and whether an Act of the State Parliament is compatible
with an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament and
whether it deals with a subject matter within the legisla-
tive authority of the State Parliament. The following
passage from Mr. Bryce's book elucidates this important
matter : —

** The so-called ' power of annuUing an imconstitutional
statute ' is a duty rather than a power, and a duty
incumbent on the humblest State Court when a case
raising the point comes before it no less than on the
Supreme Federal Court at Washington. When therefore
people talk, as they sometimes do, even in the United
States, of the Supreme Court as *the guardian of the
Constitution,' they mean nothing more than that it is the
final court of appeal, before which suits involving con-
stitutional questions may be brought up by the parties
for decision. In so far the phrase is legitimate. But the
functions of the Supreme Court are the same in kind as
all other courts. State as well as Federal. Its duty and
theirs is simply to declare and apply the law ; and where
any court, be it a State Court of first instance, or the
Federal Court of last instance, finds a law of lower
authority clashing with a law of higher authority, it
must reject the former, as being really no law, and
enforce the latter.

" It is therefore no mere technicality to point out that
the American Judges do not, as Europeans are apt to say,
* control the legislature,' but simply interpret the law.
The word * control ' is misleading, because it implies that
the person or body of whom it is used possesses and

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

exerts discretionary will. Now the American Judges
have no will in the matter any more than has an English
court when it interprets an Act of Parliament. The will
that prevails is the will of the people, expressed in the
Constitution which they have enacted. All that the
Judges have to do is to discover from the enactments
before them what the will of the people is, and apply that
will to the facts of a given case. The more general or
ambiguous the language which the people have used, so
much the more difficult is the task of interpretation, so
much greater the need for abiUty and integrity in the
Judges. But the task is alwa}^ the same in its nature.
The Judges have no concern with the motives or the
results of an enactment, otherwise than as these may
throw Ught on the sense in which the enacting authority
intended it. It would be a breach of duty for them to
express, I might almost say a breach of duty to entertain,
an opinion on its poUcy except so far as its policy explains
its meaning. They may think a statute excellent in
purpose and working, but if they cannot find in the
Constitution a power for Congress to pass it, they must
brush it aside as invalid. They may deem another statute
pernicious, but if it is within the power of Congress, they
must enforce it. To construe the law, that is, to elucidate
the will of the people as supreme law-giver, is the
beginning and end of their duty."

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CHAPTER VI

THE WORKING OF THE SYSTEM

Requisites of the Cabinet System — ^The Party System — ^Members
— ^The S3r8tem in Workmg — ^Elective Ministries — ^The Refer-
endum — Members and the Constituencies — " Reckless
Legislation " — Misunderstandings.

The ground is now cleared for the postponed discussion
on the working of responsible government in the
Australian Commonwealth.

As has been already shown, the difficulties which were
anticipated from a Federal system have never affected
responsible government, because the Senate has never
performed its original function as a States House. It
has alwa}rs been divided by the same party lines as the
House of Representatives, so that each year establishes
more firmly the supremacy of the National Chamber, and
strengthens any Ministry which commands its confidence.

But the working of the system is beset with other
difficulties of a more subtle kind, which according to
some critics, can never be overcome in any Parliament,
except the British.

Requisites of the Cabinet System

Responsible government, it is said, depends for its
success upon a nice balance between what is lawful and
what is expedient, which is only maintained in England,
because government is in the hands of a ruling class,
who have been trained at the great Pubhc Schools in
reticence and magnanimity and are controlled by the
unwritten law of an inherited tradition. Next they urge
that even if Australia has the leaders, she has not the clear-
cut party-system without which responsible government
cannot work. There is truth in both these criticisms,
but they do not conclude the matter. Let us deal with

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

each in turn. First as to the qaalification of Australian
political leaders.

It has been said that Australian pohtics are the politics
of great questions and little men. Like most generalisa-
tions this is far from accurate. Sir Henry Parkes and
Mr. Kingston, — ^both now dead, — ^and Sir Edmund Barton
and Mr. Deakin would have taken a prominent place in
any deUberative assembly. In Parhamentary skill the
late Mr. Gillies, of Victoria, had possibly no rival in the
Empire ; while Sir Samuel Griffith has a genius for prac-
tical legislation, which has made the Queensland statute
book a model. Indeed, if the names of Australian public
men were known in England, as they will be when a real
unity of sentiment exists between the countries, no ques-
tion could be raised of their abiUty to handle with success
any political question. These men and their fellow-
workers have had a long training in the practice of
responsible government.

This is largely due to the dominating influence over all
Australian Parliaments, during their formative period,
of one of the greatest Parhamentarians who ever Uved
and worthy to be ranked with Peel, Gladstone, and
Macdonald^ — ^Sir Henry Parkes. A master of con-
stitutional lore by study and instinct, he, more than
any single individual, established the practice of respon-
sible government in AustraUa and maintained it
at a high pitch for forty years (1856-1896). From New
South Wales his influence passed to Victoria, vliere Sir
Graham Berry showed a similar mastership of the art.
In Queensland the same tradition was maintained by
Sir Thomas McKurack, a man of commanding power,
and the lawyer-statesman Sir Samuel Griffith, now Chief
Justice of the Commonwealth.

In Tasmania and South Australia, Mr. Inglis Clark and
Mr. C. C. Kingston were of the same school ; but their

* The well-known Canadian statesman.

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THE PARTY SYSTEM

influence as Constitutionalists was less, because the
conventions of responsible government are not easily
observed in small colonies, where judgments are more
swayed by personal feelings, and two distinct Ministries
of equal efficiency are not easily fotmd. That there is risk
in transplanting from its native soil an exotic so delicate
as the Cabinet no observer of Australian Parliaments could
deny, but he would also admit that the Cabinet system
has been worked hitherto by honourable men, whose
perception of its claims and limits has been as delicate
as that of English leaders, and who have reflected, in
the observance of its self-imposed restrictions, the
self-restraint and good feeling of Australian Parliaments.

The Party System

In every representative system it is difficult to reconcile
the duty of a member towards his party or constituents,
with that independence of judgment and discretionary
action, without which responsible government is a sham
and parhaments are no parliaments at all. But this
difficulty is no greater in Australia than in England.
The solution of it, which has been adopted in the United
States, namely, that members should be mere delegates,
so that one man is as good as another for a parliamentary
representative, has never f oimd favour with an AustraUan
electorate, which, like the British, believes that the
business of legislation requires both independence and
ability. When the American view prevails in Australia
it will be time to dose the Parhaments. For the pubUc
can never be well served if it degrades its pubUc men,
and no democracy will long retain its own hberty, unless
its leaders are permitted to claim theirs. It is true that
no high degree of mental power or insight is needed for
three-fourths of the concerns of government, but there
is a residue, as Australians have alwajrs seen, which
demands the exercise of the highest faculties, and which

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

it is the test of statesmanship to handle properly. Thus,
in the absence of some disturbing local feeUng, constitu-
encies, as a rule, choose the best man that offers ; and they
prefer an educated man to an uneducated. They are there-
fore vexatiously exacting about their members* votes.
Being in closer touch with them than an English member
is with his constituents, he can more easily avoid mis-
understanding ; and independence, provided it is not
self-seeking, is not less popular in the one coimtry than the
other. Australian Parliaments, indeed, are a fair reflex
of AustraUan life, and if they are not better the fault
does not lie with the constituencies. Are they, then,
competent to work the delicate machinery of responsible
government ? The casual reader of a newspaper, or the
visitor to one debate, would answer without hesitation
in the negative. Yet such an answer would be
exceedingly erroneous.

Members

Mr. Gladstone was wont to say that Cabinet govern-
ment could not exist in England for a week, if every
Member of Parliament " played the game to win," that
is to say, if he used every pawn, which the Constitution
gave, to embarrass and impede it. The safeguard in
England is the party system, which gives' control of Par-
liament to a few picked men on either side, on whom
responsibility imposes caution, mutual sympathy, and
forbearance. This safeguard is not wanting in Australia ;
the Opposition has been itself in office and hopes to be
again, and Ministers know that, in their due time, they
too will sit in the cold shades. The daily business of
Parliament can therefore be carried on by arrangement
between the two leaders and honourable understandings
between the Whips of either party. Yet these are more
difficult to arrange in Australia, where every Member is
a politician and potential Minister, than in the House of

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THE NEW MEMBER

Commons, where a silent flock obeys the bidding of each
Whip.

The Australian Member, before he enters Parliament,
has been absorbed in some occupation or has fought his
way through Municipal or Labour Councils by the free use
of every lawful weapon. At first the collective respon-
sibility of a Cabinet seems to him an empty fiction and
restraint on speech hypocrisy. The new Member gener-
ally begins as a free lance. His fault is inexperience.
He is anxious to do well, but he will begin before he has
learnt the business of legislation. Payment of Members
is remedying this defect by creating a class of professional
politicians, who, hke professionals in any other walk of
life, do their work better than amateurs ; but an Austra-
lian Parliament still lacks that knowledge of pubhc affairs
and instinct for government, which has become the
heritage, by tradition, of the English leisured class.
Partly as a result of this inexperience, and partly owing to
the small number of Members, there is considerable waste
of time in aimless motions and long speeches. There is
none of that intolerance towards bores, which is a feature
of the House of Commons, so that every Member can
rely upon being permitted to hear himself talk for any
number of hours. The Chambers are too small and the
number of Members too few to admit of drowning a
Member's voice by noise. In the House of Commons,
where several hundred men can gather under dark
galleries, organised expressions of the general disinclina-
tion to listen to a tiresome speech can easily be made,
which would be impossible among the smaller numbers
scattered sparsely on the benches of a Colonial Assembly.
Thus the pubhc opinion of the House is not quite the
restraining force that it is in England. Disorderly scenes
however are not frequent and when they occur are made
the most of by the Press. Some things it is true are
permitted to pass imnoticed, but others are brought into

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

undue and unnecessary prominence. Nevertheless it
must be admitted that, when disorder does occur, it goes
further than would be permitted in the House of Commons.
One Parliament, too, has an evil notoriety for the un-
restrained license of its language. Personal corruption
is almost imknown. Such improper influencing of votes
as does occur takes the form (not altogether unknown in
England, of spending public money in the Member's
constituency. On the whole, the standard of Australian
Parliaments is high.

In one respect they have an advantage over the House
of Commons. The sapng that, " No man is a hero to
his own valet," strictiy applies to Australian politics.
A man cannot pose in Australian public life. Owing to
the smallness of the conununity and the narrow circle in
which he lives, he is speedily found out. ^ A man cannot
get into office upon the credit of quaUties which he does
not possess ; for his strength and weakness are known to
everyone. It may be questioned if this be always the
case in England. Judicious mediocrity loves a crowd.

This may not seem such a picture of the average
Member of Parliament as would justify much confidence
in his capacity to work responsible government. But
it must be remembered that, just as the House of
Commons is better than any individual in it, so even the
smallest of Austrahan Parliaments establishes a higher
standard for every member. And although no Australian
ParUament can have the weight and dignity of the House
of Commons, yet, being smaller, they perhaps educate
their Members more rapidly, because each individual is
of more consequence in a small body and feels a livelier

1 Also, and for the same reason, a public man in Australia
(although he is not subject to the open and envenomed falsehood
which seems to pursue a pubHc man in the United States), — ^is
much exposed to malicious gossip. L3dng tongues, although
not more busy in a small community, are more audible and
troublesome, tiian in a larger one.

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THE SYSTEM IN WORKING

sense of the significance of his own action in bringing about
the action of the whole.

The System in Working

Australian Parliaments may be turbulent because
passions run high and the facilities for disorder are great,
but they have a corporate pride which insensibly lifts
their Members to a higher perception of their duties.
They respond readily to good leadership and have the
respect of the pubUc because they beUeve in themselves.
No Australian Parliament at its worst has ever sunk to
the level of the Legislature of an American State. Austra-
lians have shown an almost instinctive capacity for
working the British Parhamentary S3^tem.

Certainly the idea of the collective responsibility of the
Cabinet shows no sign of waning. In 1903 when a vote
of censure seemed likely to be carried against the Ministry
of Sir John See, in New South Wales, because the writer,
as Minister of Justice, had recommended the remission
of a sentence on a prisoner, of whom the Judge who tried
the case had reported that he was innocent and wrongly
convicted, the Premier refused his colleague's proffered
resignation and accepted responsibility for the whole
Cabinet. Yet by the Instructions to the Governor the
duty of advising remission in such a case was imposed
upon the Minister of Justice individually and he had
acted without the knowledge of his colleagues. The
party system, on which responsible government depends,
shows the same vitality. Indeed its excesses in the
Commonwealth Parliament have created a new difficulty,
because there are now three parties instead of the historic
two, viz., the Free Trade Provincialist, the Protection
Federalist, and the Labour Party. Fortunately the
Federal S3anpathies of the Labour Party have enabled it,
except for a short period, to work with Mr. Deakin, who
leads the Federal Protectionists. But, as he has himself

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

said, " You cannot play cricket with three elevens in the
field." Probably the line between the two last-named
of the three parties will tend to disappear, and Federation
versus Provincialism become the dividing issue. But no
wise man attempts to calculate the future of Australian
politics. It is sufficient to note that men still vote
together as a party in support of or in opposition to a
Ministry, on account of a general agreement about certain
large issues, and not because loyalty to party gives a title
to the spoils of patronage.

Elective Ministries

Nevertheless at times in every Parliament the party
system falls into discredit because, in the absence of vital
issues, it lacks reahty. This happens frequently in Aus-
tralia, where the political pulse is never steady, and cold
fits follow times of turmoil with remarkable rapidity.
In prosperous times, for instance, when voters are making
money, politics are usually dull. A season of depression
foUows and parties form themselves about another
Ministry. Immense activity ensues — ^to the profit of the
other side when good times return. During every luU,
party ties relax and strange alliances are formed, which
inspire plain people with disgust at what appears to be the
insincerity of politicians. At such times, especially if the
fusion of parties has produced, as it usually does, an
amalgam of mediocrities — men regard favourably any
device which promises a more rational and honest S3^tem.
Two alternatives to responsible government are most
frequently discussed — ^the one, election of ministers by
Parliament, the other, the Referendum.

The advocates of the election of ministers look upon
the collective responsibility of a Cabinet as a mischievous
absurdity. "Why," they ask, "should a Member not
be able to vote against one incompetent Minister, without
displacing others who may be the best men for their

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PARTY DISCIPLINE

respective posts ? " Or, why cannot he oppose one
measure of the Government Mdthout imperilling the success
of other measures in which he believes ? The questions
are speciously framed to appeal both to the member
who hopes to be elected as a Minister, and to the elector
who is ignorant of Parliamentary ways. In practice
members are not often called upon to swallow their
convictions in order to maintain a Government in office,
because every Bill passes through many stages in which
amendments can be moved to meet their wishes. No
Government would proceed with a Bill of minor import-
ance to which any number of their followers objected.
Only a Bill which gives effect to the declared poUcy of the
party could justify such conduct, and in that case members
of the party would have no complaint. It is true that
these considerations do not affect the case of a vote of
censure on a particular Minister for an administrative act.
In such a case the Cabinet system demands a collective
responsibility, and party discipline, a sohd vote. " I will
always support you, when you are right," said a conscien-
tious new Member to a whilom Premier of New South
Wales. " D — ^n it, sir," was the reply, " any fool does
that. I want you to support me when I'm wrong I "

The truth is that in pohtics there is no best course.
The right way is alwa}^ a choice between two evils, so
that a system must be judged not only by its openness
to criticism but by its superiority in this respect to any
alternative. Turn the guns, accordingly, upon the elective
S3^tem.

All who have experience of a Cabinet know that
administration is not conducted in water-tight compart-
ments, but the functions of Ministers overlap and cannot
be satisfactorily performed without mutual aid and a
common poUcy. The difficulties in the way of this
co-operation are great as it is. They would be insuper-
able, if every Minister was playing for his own hand.

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How — ^to give a simple illustration — ^is money to be found
for each department ? " By the vote of Parliament,"
replies the innovator. But supposing that the revenue
fails to come in or that unexpected emergencies, such as
a flood, or an outbreak of plague, or a strike, require that
the expenditure should be reduced below the estimates,
— ^who, under the new system, is to apportion the reduc-
tions between the spending departments ? Under the
Cabinet system, the Treasurer holds the purse for all the
Government, and the Prime Minister in the last resort
adjusts differences between his colleagues. It is not
therefore surprising, but very significant, that the election
of Ministers by ParUament has not received the support
of any ex-Minister who has learnt by experience the
difficulties of government. Nor ought it to be favoured
by anyone who wishes to preserve the dignity of Parlia-
ment. In some States five Members have to be elected
in each Parliament to fill salaried offices upon the Public
Works Committee. The result is that these offices tend
to pass in rotation among those who give their votes
upon an understanding that the recipients will return
the favour on the next occasion. In the same way
the election of Ministers by Parliament would probably
result, after a few years, in a scramble for the emolu-
ments of office without any consideration of fitness for
administrative posts.

The Referendum

The mischief of the Referendum is of a different kind
and lies below the surface.

It is recommended in Austraha, as an exit from dead-
locks, when the two Houses of Parliament cannot agree, —
that the measure in dispute between them shall be
submitted to the direct vote of the whole electorate,
which shall say Aye or No in favour of or against its
passage. This, it is said, is not hkely to be used often, as

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THE REFERENDUM

deadlocks are infrequent. It will be " the medidne of
the Constitution, not its daily food.''

This phrase conceals the fact that when this device
is once adopted, neither House will be constrained by fear
of consequences, to compromise its opposition, but, by
persisting in it to the end, wiU shelve its own responsibility
upon the shoulders of the people. When parliaments
prove failures, the Referendum may be necessary, but it
is well to realise that every argument in favour of its use
rests upon mistrust of Parliament. Direct legislation by
the people overrides legislation by their representatives
and is a substitute for their corruption or incompetence.
This is the justification of its use in the United States,
where it is advocated for the avowed purpose of controlling
State legislatiu:es. * Such arguments have no validity
in AustraUa, where the people hold their Representative
Assemblies in well-founded respect.

Suppose however that the Referendum has become
a part of the constitutional machinery and that every-
thing is ready for setting it to work. A controversy has
arisen between the two Houses, the Upper House having
added amendments to a Bill which the Lower House will
not accept. In what form is this measure to be presented
to the country ? In the form in which it left the Assembly
or in the form in which it left the Senate ? If in the latter,
the Senate has the power to dictate the particular question
to be asked ; if, in the former this power is given to the
House of Representatives. In either case the question
may be so framed that no body of voters will be able to
obtain the law which they desire by a simple answer
in the affirmative or negative. Again, what course is a
Ministry to take when the popular vote has been given
in favour of a Bill which it opposed as against one which it
favoured ? Presumably it would resign. Suppose then
that the Bill, accepted by the Referendum, had been

» e,g„ " The Referendum in America," by Prof. Oberhaltxer.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

supported by the Senate and opposed by the House of
Representatives, the result of the vote would be to shift
political power from the House of Representatives to the
Senate. Nor would a Ministry be any longer under any
obligation to accept responsibility for any of their
measures. These might be introduced merely to find
favour with a section of supporters, in confidence that
they would be rejected by the people. It is clear
that Parliamentary government and Ministerial respon-
sibility, as these are understood to-day, cannot con-
tinue if the final voice in legislation is transferred from
Parliament to the direct decision of a popular vote.
Such an extreme expression of the doctrine of the sover-
eignty of the people sweeps away the safeguards of
Kberty, and is an appropriate instrument of despotic
power. A Referendum properly defines the limits of
a constitution, but has no place within it if the
constitution is framed upon a British model.

Now Parliaments in Australia have not failed. They
reflect public opinion with fidelity and have always
proved themselves its worthy and effective instrument.
If they have not proved brUliantly successful upon all
occasions, they have at least shown high spirit and in-
tegrity. The defects of Parhamentary government (and
there are defects in every system) have not yet bred evils
in Australia which justify the substitution for it of
another system. They are doing good work and their
faults have received a disproportionate attention.

Members and the Constituencies

The preceding pages will have drawn an imperfect
picture of Australian parliaments, if they have not created
the impression that public life in the Commonwealth has
great attractions. Not only are the questions of policy
large and far-reaching, but the influence of the individual
Member in their decision is very great. Nowhere, whether

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THE POLITICIAN

in public or private affairs, does the individual count for
so much as in Australia. There is no helpless fluttering
against the iron bars of class or tradition. Every stroke
of work tells. A man can use his strength in Australia,
whether it be strength of muscle or of brain. The daily
victory over the forces of Nature in the material world
gives confidence in other directions. This feeling of
energy and hope is strengthened by an experience of
office. So much in a new country depends on good
administration, and so Uttle of administration is
as yet, settled into a routine, that more responsibility and
power attaches to a Minister of the Crown in an Australian
State, than is the case in England, except in such positions
as Foreign Secretary or Premier. There are few
official traditions handed down from one Permanent
Secretary to another ; there are seldom precedents in
important matters ; whatever is done must be done upon
the direct responsibility of the Minister. Fortunately,
considering that most Australian Ministries are short-
hved, the Civil Service is singularly efficient, and no
Minister need go wrong for want of competent advice.
It is indeed a matter for constant wonder that the State
should be able to secure so many able and educated men
at the low salaries which are paid to Austrahan civil
servants. The chief drawback to public life is the
exigent demand it makes upon a member's time. Sittings
are late and sessions prolonged, perhaps because the
Chamber is to many of the members a social club and its
sittings their only hours of business. They fed bound
to work in return for their salaries, which, in the State
Parliaments, are £300 a year, and £600 in the Federal
ParUament — a competence to many members, but less
than a Uving wage to those who have an office to maintain.
Lawyers, as in America, are the class which most affect
poUtics, because the prizes of the profession may be won
through its pursuit, which is not incompatible with

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practice in the Courts. The Labour Party has introduced
the new element of Labour Memqers, but it would be
erroneous to assume that these are necessarily what, for
want of a more intelligible term, must be called "working-
men."* Pa3anent of members has certainly brought
politics within the reach of those who were excluded in
earlier days. It has also been of service in increasing the
stability of Ministries. Paid Parliaments, although they
have shown no imwillingness to face the country when a
question of principle is involved, are less likely than those
which are unpaid to risk a dissolution by turning out a
Ministry for frivolous causes.

The relations between a member of parliament and
his constituents are sometimes inconveniently close. The
Member for a country district finds his time fully occupied
in attending to the wants of his electorate.* Local
government does much to reduce this sort of laboiu:,
but so long as the central Government disposes of loan
funds there will always be work for a true " Roads and
Bridges '' Member, whose political capacity is measured
by the amoimt of public money which is spent in his
constituency.

To save themselves as much as possible from this

annoyance, and to protect the public interest, most

AustraUan ParUaments refer the construction of public

works, involving more than a certain sum (generally

£20,000) to a committee of members or independent board,

who must recommend the expenditure before it can be

submitted to Parliament. The Departments of Lands and

PubUc Works are, however, in constant relations with

country districts in many matters of smaller importance,

to which the member is expected by his constituents to

» See Chapter above. " The Labotir Party."
* A member in New South Wales who had been too obliging,
received a letter one day from a constituent written in all serious-
ness, asking him to order some fish for the writer's household
dinner.

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EXPERIMENTS

attend. One advantage of a practice, which is otherwise
troublesome, is that it keeps members in touch with their
constituents, and often creates dose ties of personal
friendship.

The most serious defect of Australian Parliaments is the
readiness of Members to take up trifling grievances and
insist on legislation to meet special cases. This, however,
is a manifestation of the confidence in the power of
legislation, which is general in Australia, and which
has made its Statute Books laboratories of pohtical
experiment.

" Reckless Legislation "

This is often made the basis of a charge of recklessness
against Australian legislators, and there is much which
seems disturbing in their temper. But it must be remem-
bered, in weighing the justice of this charge, that Australia
is the Qnderella of modem nations, whom Democracy has
just claimed for his bride. It is a land of pohtical faith
and ideals, of democratic principles which are a matter
of habit and instinct, and not adopted by intellectual
conviction or in a spirit of philanthropic benevolence.
Every adult has a vote, * and nowhere is there such unity
of purpose or greater freedom from distracting cares. Thus
the dreams of the study are soon translated into Acts of
Parliament, and whatever Democracy can accomplish will
be accomplished in AustraUa, for good or ill. To-day
national prosperity, the buoyancy of youth, the novelty
of pohtical power, combine to dissipate misgivings, and
the day of disillusionment — ^if it should ever come — ^is still
far distant.

Misunderstandings

At present other countries hardly understand AustraUa,
and even in England there is jealousy and some suspicion
' In Victoria not for the State Parliament.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

of the bold, new ways. The capitalist class is timid and
others are doubtful. Australia, too, has enemies within
her own household, and no story circulates in England to
her discredit, which has not originated in some article in an
AustraUan newspaper or some speech by an Australian
politician. ^ In Austraha, Parliament and the Press cry
every error of Australians through a megaphone.
Australian politicians are accustomed to use language
towards one another which is startling to a stranger.
And the Press, too, while it loyally avoids mere person-
alities or the imputation of motives, is free to the verge
of license in its criticisms of public men and events.
Nevertheless alarmists and critics may possess their souls.
Australians have not lost their heads. They have neither
forgotten their responsibilities towards the Empire, nor
passed any law which threatens property or countenances
attacks upon capital. They are sober, level-headed men,
with a reserve of sagacious patriotism, which can always
be reUed upon to take the side of order.

^ During the electoral . campaign of 1906, when " anti-
Socialism " was made a party-cry, speeches were made and
articles written by men, who were at heart quite loyal Australians,
which did infinite mischief to Australian credit by the lurid
colours in which they painted the condition of the country, and
their dismal forecasts of the consequences of Mr. Deakin's
victory at the polls. Canada is said to have a law which punishes
libels on Canada ; and, according to the newspapers, a speaker
who declared that Manitoba was no place for immigrants was
fined forty dollars in 1907, at the suit of the Attorney-General
of the Province. Such a law would have augmented the
Australian Revenue.

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CHAPTER VII

THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM

The Financial Problem — ^A Uniform Tariff — ^The Surplus and its
Distribution — ^The Transferred Expenditure — ^A Common-
wealth Budget— The Return to the States — ^The Public
Debt.

One ot the greatest obstacles to Federation was the
difficulty of adjusting the finance of the Commonwealth
to meet the necessities of the several States. The uniform
tariff, which was a sine q%UL nan of union, meant in practice
the abandonment of revenue by the States in unequal
proportions, on account of the varying degrees of their
dependence upon Customs and Excise. Tasmania, for
instance, derived nearly half her total revenue from this
source, while New South Wales only derived one-sixth.
The proportion of this to the total in the case of Queens-
land, Victoria, and Western Australia was about one-third,
and of South Australia one-fifth. A further difficulty
arose from the varjdng proportions of Customs revenues
which each State derived from duties upon the produce
of other States. This was largest in Tasmania and
Western Australia. Two things were therefore plain —
one, that no State could surrender its tariff without an
equivalent and the other that a per capita distribution
of the proceeds of a common tariff would not meet the
case. The subjoined table expresses in figures the
position of each State in regard to these matters during
1899, the year preceding Federation.

Table I

Table showing (a) The total revenues ; (b) The revenues
from Customs and Excise ; {c) The amount raised by

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Customs and Excise per head of the population of each
colony in the year 1899 immediately preceding Federation.

Revenue from

Amount per
head of

Colony

Total Revenue

Custom and

Excise

Population

New Sonth Wales

9.973,738

1.650,333

£ s. d.
1 4 9

Victoria . .

7,378,842

2,224.811

1 17 6

4.174.086

1.568,744

3 5 10

South Australia . .

2.731.208

641.181

1 15 11

West AnstraUa

2.478.811

859.915

5 1 5

90^.273

447.036

2 12 6

Commonwealth

;f27.244.585

;^.392.020

The differences between the States, shown in this
table, are due to several causes. In the first place, the
influence of good or bad seasons on the producing power
of the people is felt directly in the returns from Customs.
This has specially affected Queensland during the first
three years of Federation. Secondly, the influx of
capital, whether in consequence of pubUc or private
borrowings, is reflected in the Customs revenue, because
loans reach the colony in the form of goods. Thirdly, the
States draw unequal proportions of their revenues from
the pubhc lands. New South Wales draws most from
this source and Victoria least. Lastly, the preponderance
of males in a State, over females, and the habits of the
people, cause variations in the consumption of the
highly-taxed narcotics and stimulants, which, as is very
noticeable, in the case of Western Australia, greatly affects
the pef capita returns of the Customs Revenue.

A Uniform Tariff

In addition to these financial considerations, the fiscal
poUcies of the several States had also to be taken into
account. Victoria had developed manufactures imder a
protective tariff, and in a greater or less degree other

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REVENUE

colonies had done the same, but New South Wales, owing
to her large revenue from pubUc lands, was, in the main,
a Free Trade country, and her average rate of duties was
very low. These two colonies were at the extreme of
the fiscal scale ; but it was,, obviously, a less drastic change
to raise the rate of duties in New South Wales, than to
lower the rates of the other States to her level, because
the latter operation would have endangered many
industries, which had come into existence under the direct
or incidental protection of the higher tariff. It was
therefore evident, from the first, that the uniform tariff
of the Commonwealth could not be lower than the average
of the six States, that is to say, that it must return at
least £2 per head of the population of Australia. And,
since a portion of the Customs revenues of each colony
was derived from duties on the products of other Austra-
lian States, the Commonwealth tariffs had to be large
enough to replace the loss occasioned to each State by
inter-colonial free trade. It must, therefore, be more
than £1 per head. It was certainly this which prompted
most of the opposition to Federation in New South Wales.

The Surplus and its Distribution

Yet another compUcation was introduced into the
problem by the smallness of the Conmionwealth's finan-
cial needs. The office of the Governor-General, the
administration of the Ministerial departments, the cost
of the Commonwealth ParUament, with the few other
items, which made up the whole of the new charges
imposed by Federation, could not exceed ;f400,000 for
some years. But the uniform tariff, for the reason stated,
had to produce at least seven miUion pounds, which
would leave an enormous balance every year at the
disposal of the Commonwealth. The distribution of this
surplus was the crux of the financial problem. It is still
one of the most difficult questions in Federal poUtics.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Provincial prejudices prevented the adoption of the
obvious method of applying the surplus towards pa3mient
of interest on the State debts, because this involved the
exercise by the Commonwealth of some control over State
borrowings. The same reason prevented the Conmion-
wealth from taking over the State railways, which would
have consoUdated the union more effectually than any
other measure, and provided a use for the surplus in
improving communications throughout the continent. A
combination of these methods — ^that is, taking over both
debts and railways — ^was strongly advocated even by some
who opposed union ; but the state of public feeling made
this impossible. Some means had therefore to be devised
for utilising the surplus for the benefit of the States
without reUeving them of equivalent obhgations.

It would be tedious to enumerate all the schemes which
were proposed. That which was ultimately adopted is
contained in Sections 87, 89 and 93 of the Constitution.

First, in order to ensure some revenue to the States, an
obUgation was imposed upon the Commonwealth not to
expend more than one-fourth of the net revenue of
Customs and Excise, the balance to be returned to the
States or appUed towards pa}mient of interest on these
debts. This clause which was proposed by the late Sir
Edward Braddon, was perversely misrepresented during
the Federal campaign. Dubbed " the Braddon blot " —
and indeed it is a ^' blot," although the writing underneath
was always legible ! — ^it was declared to impose upon the
Commonwealth the obligation to raise 2()s. for every 5s.
that is required. Mr. Reid, therefore, after the first
Referendum, obtained the consent of the Premiers to
amend the Bill by Umiting the operation of this clause
to ten years. Provision was then made for the period
prior to, and for five years after, the imposition of uniform
duties of Customs. The principle of this arrangement,
which is complicated in its operation, was that each State

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EXPENDITURE

should be credited with the revenue it contributed to the
Commonwealth and debited with the expenditure which
the Commonwealth incurred upon its behalf. This
system of debit and credit which is known as '* the book-
keeping " sjrstem expired, by effluxion of time, on October
8th, 1906, but Parliament has not yet established a
substitute.

With one further explanation, the ground will be dear
for the comprehension of a Conmionwealth Budget.

The Transferred Expenditure

It will be remembered that the Commonwealth, besides
being an organ of national sovereignty, provides a uniform
administration in certain matters of common interest
which can be administered more conveniently by a central
authority. To this end the Constitution provided that
the departments of Customs and Excise, which had been
administered previously by the colonies, should pass to
the Commonwealth upon its establishment (Sect. 69),
and the Departments of Naval and Mihtary Defence, of
Post, Telegraphs and Telephones, of Lighthouses, Light-
ships, and Beacons and of Quarantine, on a Proclamation
by the Governor-General in that behalf (Sect. 69).
In the exercise of this power the Departments of Defence
and Post Offices were transferred to the Conmionwealth
on March 1st, 1901. No Proclamation has yet been
issued in respect of Lighthouses or Quarantine. In
addition to these departments of the pubUc service,
which pass automatically or by proclamation from
the States to the Commonwealth, there are others, of
which the Commonwealth is empowered to undertake the
duties after Parliament has legislated in that behalf.
This power has already been exercised in respect of
patents, trade-marks, copyright and designs (1903), so
that one registration now gives protection to a patent, etc.,
in all the States, and in respect of the Nattu-alisation of

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Aliens, (Jan. 1st, 1904), and of the creation of a Bureau of
Census and Statistics^ (Dec. 1905), and of Meteorology
(1907). Parliament is on the point of legislating for a
uniform system of invalid and old-age pensions. Mr.
Deakin has attempted also, but in vain, to induce the
States to enter into an arrangement with the
(Commonwealth for a general scheme of inmiigration.

The total cost of these transferred departments largely
exceeds their revenues, • and this balance to the debit of
the Conmionwealth will be increased considerably when
old-age pensions become a Federal charge. The best
method of meeting these charges is now exercising both
State and Federal financiers. The tariff which, with
Excise, returned in 1907-8 £2 15s. 6d. per head of the
population, cannot be relied upon for great expansion,
and direct taxation, which is erroneously claimed to be
the exclusive right of the States, would be exceedingly
unpopular.

There are two conflicting currents of opinion. The
treasurers of the States, unwilling either to retrench
their own expenditure or transfer to the Commonwealth
any of their obligations, demand that the principle of the
Braddon clause shall be embodied permanently in the
Constitution, and that they shall receive a larger and
fixed contribution from the Conunonwealth Treasury.
The strong Federalists on the contrary, who have always

^ The publication of the admirable Year Book of the
Commonwealth is an ample justification of this measure. The
writer desires here, once for all, to acknowledge his indebtedness
to this excellent work. Together with Mr. Coghlan's " Australia
and New Zealand/' to which also the writer owes much, it is an
indispensable text-book for all who take an interest in Australia,
and the recognition of its merits will become more hearty as
acquaintance with the politics and life of Australia deepens. If
Federation had done nothing else than produce this record of
Australian life and progress it would have been justified.

* The expenditure of which the States have been relieved by
the Commonwealth amounted to ;£5,045,171 for the financial
year 1908-9. (See Hansard, p. 1337, Oct. 20th, 1908.)

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THE COMMONWEALTH BUDGET

regarded the attempt to adjust the distribution of the
Federal surplus to the respective needs or contributions of
the States as a weak concession to provincial feeling,
object to any entanglement of Federal and State finances,
and demand that the Conmion wealth shall be the head of
her own household. They point out that the difiGiculty is
caused by the refusal of the States to federalise the
railways and the pubUc debts.

The decision of the controversy rests with the Federal
ParUament, which will probably determine to gain
financial independence. It is enough in this brief survey
to note the imminence of this change, which hangs over
all Australian pohtics.

The Commonwealth Budget

These preUminary observations wiU serve as a guide
through the intricacies of Federal finance.

The Commonwealth revenue for 1907-8 amoimted to
£15,015,798, of which £11,645,409 was derived from
Customs and Excise. This represented a sum of
£3 lis. 6|^d. per head of the population, of which
Customs and Excise returned £2 15s. 6d. per head.

The expenditure amounted to a total of £6,158,893, or
£1 9s. 4^. per head of the population, leaving a surplus
of £8,859,596.

Before deaUng with the distribution of this large surplus
it will be necessary to explain the principal items of
expenditure. These are classified under three heads :
" new," " other," and " transferred."

The " new " expenditure, as the name imports, is that
which is immediately and directly caused by the establish-
ment of a Fedend Government, e.g., the Governor-
General's establishment, the cost of Parliament, and the
Ministerial Departments.^ This amounted in 1907-8 to
£410,127, and represents the whole of the new charge

^ These are seven in number. See above, p. 192.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

imposed upon the taxpayer by the establishment of
the Commonwealth ; and it represents less than 2s. per
head of the population, which is indeed an insignificant
amount to pay for the advantages of union — ^being (as
was said by a Federal speaker during the New South
Wales campaign), " just sixpence less than it would cost
to register a dog ! " This expenditure for the direct
purposes of the Commonwealth is likely to increase, but
up to the present it has been kept down in a spirit of
almost penurious economy.

The second heading is " other expenditure/' Unlike
the " new " expenditure, the " other " expenditure
is not caused immediately and directly by the estab-
lishment of the Commonwealth, and unlike the " trans-
ferred " expenditure it does not represent charges which
were borne by the several colonies before union. It
represents the outlay upon services of the Commonwealth
which are necessitated by the expansion of Austraha
and the proper exercise of the functions of a National
Government. For instance, the expenditure on Papua,
the vote for the sugar bounties, the cost of re-arming the
military forces, all come imder this heading. All these
items must have been borne by one or more of the separate
colonies without Federation, unless, indeed, the separated
colonies had been imwilling to incur any expenditure
for common purposes. In 1907-8 the " other " expen-
diture amounted to jf 1,705,077, of which no less a sum
than £876,366 was provided for defence purposes,
which in pre-Federal days were always charged to loans,
and £584,630 for sugar bounties, in execution of the
White Australia policy.

" Transferred " expenditure speaks for itself. It
represents that outlay upon the departments of Govern-
ment which the Commonwealth has taken over from the
States ; and manifestly represents no new charge upon
the taxpayer. This amounted in 1907-8 to £4,043,689.

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THE SURPLUS

The total of the year's expenditure was thus : —

" New " Expenditure 410,127

"Other" ., .. 1,705.077

" Tranafcrred " ,. 4.043,689

Total . . ;(6. 158.893

The Return to the States

It will be remembered that, by the Constitution, the
Commonwealth is prohibited during the first ten years
from spending more than one-fourth of the net revenue
from Customs and Excise, and is required to return the
balance to the several States, in proportion to their
contributions.

In 1907-8 one-fourth of the net revenue from Customs
and Excise was £2,842,087 ; so that the Commonwealth
Vf2s obliged by the constitution to return to the States
£8,526,292. Deducting this siun from the surplus for the
year of £8,859,596, there was a balance of £333,904, which
the Commonwealth might have retained legally for its
own purposes. Instead of doing this, it returned to the
States a further sum of £330,613. This action was strictly
in accordance with the practice of previous years. The
Commonwealth has always treated the States with great
Uberality — Shaving returned to them since its establish-
ment no less a sum than £6,058,637, over and above the
amount legally due under the Constitution.

The Public Debt

The Constitution empowers the Commonwealth to
assume responsibility for the public indebtedness of the
States as it stood at the date of the establishment of the
Commonwealth ; but it gave no right of control over the
borrowings of the State. Up to the present time no debts
have been taken over, and the assumption of some
responsibility will probably form a term in the new

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

financial arrangements, which the Commonwealth must
make with the States when the term of the Braddon
clause expires in 1910.

The total public debt of the Australian States on
June 30th, 1907, was ^f 240, 149,727, or £57 15s. Id. per
head of the population. On this siun the annual charge
for interest was ;^,654,299, or £2 Is. 7d. per head. Sinking
Funds had been provided amounting to £3,731,275. Of
the total of the loans, 2272 or £54,570,338 have been
floated in Australia ; the balance is due in London at
various dates.

Of the monies thus raised £231,108,346 have been
spent for public purposes ; viz., on railways and tram*
ways, 61' 13 % of the total ; on water supply and sewerage,
1302 % ; on telegraphs and telephones, 162 % ; on
harbour rivers, roads, and bridges, 10-99 % ; on defence,
1*04 %, and the rest on other more or less reproductive
items. ^

It is claimed with truth that the character of this
expenditure differentiates Australian indebtedness from
that of a European State, whose pubUc debt has been
principally incurred for war purposes. But when this
contention is pushed further and it is asserted that the
pubUc debt is no burden, because it is represented by
tangible assets, it becomes both an exaggeration in point
of fact — because at least ten per cent, of the total is repre-
sented by no visible assets — and a misimderstanding of
the nature of credit. Even granted that the railways and
other public works are to-day worth the whole of the
public debt, there is no means of testing their saleable
value, because there is no market in which they could be
sold. No private company, for instance, would care to
work the Australian railways unless the Parliaments were
first deprived of all power over railway matters. The

^ The difierence between the amount of the total debt and
the amount of the monies spent represents the cost of flotation.

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LOANS AND CREDIT

real security for the public creditors is not the assets, in
which his money is invested, but the character of the
people to whom he lends. Australian credit stands high
because the world knows that Australians respect obliga-
tions and so will never repudiate their debts. For the
same reason it is a needless exercise of ihgenuity to dis-
tinguish between the credits of the several States. One
may have borrowed too rapidly, so that the underwriters
of the loans have not been able to unload, and the price
of its stock will in consequence be low ; another may have
borrowed more than a legitimate anticipation of the
future justified ; but ultimately, the credit of each State
rests upon the credit of them all. No State could permit
— ^much less could the Commonwealth permit — ^that any
State should fall behind in payment of interest as it
fell due. ^ Nevertheless, it is an important proof of the
wisdom with which loans have upon the whole been
spent, that the railways, ' after pa3dng working expenses
and all other charges, should have returned for
1905-6 and 1906-7 respectively ^^383,625 and ;£992,947,
or plus 0-28 % and plus 0-72 % over and above the
interest on the ;f 141,271,521 spent upon them out of loan
monies. Nor must it be forgotten that the chief reason
for borrowing has been that AustraUan Governments

1 During the years of financial stress, 1899-1903, arrangements
were more than once made between New South Wales and other
States for the temporary use of each other's credit balances in
London.

* The mileage of the Australian railwa3rs open for traffic is
15.238, and 732 miles are in course of construction. It is charac-
teristic of the jealousies which Federation has to overcome that
there should be five different gauges in use. The New South
Wales n the standard 4 ft. 8 in. gauge : the Victorian is 5 ft. 3 in. ;
the Queensland, South Australian and West Australian is 3 ft. 6 in. ;
and Queensland has a short line on the 2 ft. 6 in. gauge and
Tasmania another of 2 ft. The gross revenue per train mile
was 86*37 pence, and the gross cost per train mile 49*50 pence,
and the net return on the capital invested, after payment of all
expenses was 4*35 per cent, or 37*07 pence per train mile.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

undertake many functions which, in England or
America, are left to private persons or local authorities.
This fact explains the large figures of the State Budgets,
which make no separation between receipts for services
rendered and receipts from taxation, and thus swell both
sides of the accounts. One of the reforms advocated by
the Sydney BtMetin is a change in this system of keeping
the accoimts, in order to bring home to the people a
lesson much needed, namely, that they are living to a
considerable extent upon their national capital, by
bringing the receipts from the sale and occupation of
the public lands into the ordinary Revenue Account.
The BuUeHn urges that all pubUc borrowing should
cease and the revenue from the land should be spent in
the construction of pubUc works. Such a change would
have many beneficial consequences outside the region of
finance.

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PART III— LEGISLATION

CHAPTER I

TARIFFS AND PREFERENCE

The First Tariff— The Effect on Industry— The National Policy-
Imperial Preference— The Displacement of British Trad&—
Should Trade Follow the Flag ?— The Value of the Gift of
Preference— Preference to British Ships — ^Extensions of the
Policy of Preference— Preference and Imperial Union.

The fiscal policy of the Commonwealth has been deter-
mined from the beginning by the conditions of miion.
Before 1900 every colony had its own tarijEE, and each was
financially dependent, athough in varying degrees, upon
its Customs receipts. One of the chief impulses towards
union was the desire for a common tariff. No colony,
however, had been willing to surrender its revenues from
Customs without a guarantee that it would receive at
least an equal amount from the Commonwealth. A
calculation of the total receipts of the six States from
Customs duties on over-sea goods, showed that after
deducting the new charges in respect of the Common-
wealth, there would remain a balance, on the assumption
that the Commonwealth tarijEE would return a corresponding
amount sufiicient to insure each State against serious
loss. Accordingly the Constitution contained the pro-
visions which have been already referred to in the chapter
dealing with finance, directing the Commonwealth to
return to the States three-quarters of whatever sums they
received from Customs duties, in certain prescribed
proportions.
The financial obUgations towards the States, which the

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Constitution imposed upon the Commonwealth, explain
its first tariff (Nov. 4th, 1901). Roughly speaking, these
required a revenue of six million pounds. Out of this
the new charges in respect of the Conunonwealth were
not expected to exceed £300,000 — a sum of Is. 6d. per head
of the population. The balance, after discharging the
expenses of the services which the Commonwealth took
over from the States {e.g., Post Ofl&ce and Customs), was
to be returned to the States according to the provisions of
the Constitution. The situation was further complicated
by the existence in every State of industries which owed
their existence to protective duties, and had to be pre-
served. To this extent the new tariff was intentionally
protective, but in other respects it was a compromise
between the high duties of Victoria and the lower duties of
New South Wales. The range, however, was still sufl5-
ciently high to be incidentally protective to many indus-
tries, and a great expansion of manufactures followed.
Several new industries were also started by American and
English firms, which had hitherto consigned their products
to agents. ^ New channels were opened by these means
in many directions for the investment of capital and the
employment of labour.

The Effect on Industry

The increase in manufactures since the tarijEE is shown
in the table on the next page, which is compiled from the
" Year Book of the Commonwealth."

Reference to the figures given above in the chapter on
" Material Progress " will show that this great develop-
ment of manufacturing industry synchronized with an
immense increase in over-sea trade, thus illustrating afresh

^ The tarifE had the same effect in establishing industries in
the Commonwealth which had previously been conducted abroad
as Mr. Lloyd George's Patent Act has had in attracting industries
to Great Britain.

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MANUFACTURES

Tablb Showing Incrbasb in
Tariff of Nov, 4th, 1901, and

Manufacturbs sincb thb
Pbrcentages of Increase ^

Year

Value of Plant and

Machines,* with Percentage

of increase

Number of

Operatives in

Factories

Salaries and

Waces

paid

1903

1904

1905

1906
1907

18,639.778

8-88% (1)
20,294,788

1-92 %
20,683.945

507 %
21,731,554

126,137
131,491
139,959
150,168

I
10,829,026

10-50 %
11.966,135

3-24 %
12,353,840

6-96%
13,213,467

the experience of the United States and Germany, that
protective duties do not necessarily reduce imports.*
Such an object lesson was not lost, even upon many who
had hitherto opposed protection. In the meantime,
Australians were watching closely the movement started
by Mr. Chamberlain towards Imperial Preference, upon
which most of them beUeve that the consolidation of the
Empire depends.

The National Policy

Consequently the tariff was re-modelled in 1907 with
the double object of protecting AustraUan industries and
granting a Preference to British goods — ^a combination

^ Mr. Knibbs thus sums up the manufacturing position.
" There is evidence of general prosperity and rapid development.
Australian manufacturing is now upon a firm basis with respect
to many articles, and there is an increasing export business in
many commodities." (Year Book, p. 483.)

* Excluding South Australia, from which the figures are not
available.

* This is because a scientific tariff has an extensive free list, or
because prosperity increases the demand for foreign as well as
home-made goods. Tariffs only " restrict " trade in ti^e same sense
that the Assouan dam " restricts " the life-giving waters of the
Nile, namely, in order to divert them into new channels. The
experience of the United States and Germany is conclusive on
this point.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

of National and Imperial aims which, although very
characteristic of Australia has been much misunderstood.
The new nations which have grown up beyond the seas
no longer Uve in the ideas of tutelage, but are building for
themselves a new fabric of thought and habit, and daim
to be uncontrolled masters in their own household. Each
is developing its resources in its own way, and all, to
this end, make use of tariff to obtain revenue and
diversify industry. Let it be assumed that Australia
would have done better to adopt Free Trade — ^an assump-
tion which is warranted neither by the experience of
Canada nor by the teaching of John Stuart Mill, — it has
still to be proved that it was possible for her to do so.
If Professor Rabbeno* be correct in his theory that
Protection is forced upon a yoimg country by the exhaus-
tion or appropriation of its superior lands, then the
protective system of Victoria, which determined the fiscal
colour of the first Commonwealth tariff, was a necessity
of economic law.* Certainly most politicians beheved
that it was a necessity of politics, because no Free
Trader was able to suggest any other means by which
the colony could raise sufficient revenue.* However

^ See " The Commercial Policy of the United States/' by
Professor Rabbeno.

* The introduction of protection into Victoria (in 1864) was due
to the same interaction of political and economic forces, which
Professor Rabbeno traces in his " Commercial Policy of the
United States." The available land had become insufficient to
maintain the increasing number of those who, since 1 85 1 , had found
emplojrment on the gold-fields, most of whom had been trained
in England to some mechanical pursuit. Very interesting figures
are given in the earliest Victorian Statistical Register, edited
by Mr. Archer, and published in 1854, on the distribution of popu-
lation in that colony from 1841 to 1851 . This work of authority
is now rare.

* Direct taxation is seldom possible in an undeveloped colony.
Victoria, it must be remembered, is the smallest State in the
Commonwealth except Tasmania, and in 1864 the Legislature
was under the control of the great landowners and their allies.

New South Wales used to be quoted against Victoria as the

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PREFERENCE

this may be, the time is now arrived when all who
wish to understand Australians, and do justice to
their actions, must accept the fact that Protection
is the fixed policy of the Commonwealth, as it is of
Canada or the United States.^ When once this fact
is grasped, the idea that an Australian tarifE is framed in
any spirit of hostihty to British traders will find no
credence.* Nor need the determination of Australia to
develop her potential capacity as a manufacturing
country cause the Imperialists any alarm. The best
support to the Empire is the strengthening of its coln-
ponent parts, and Australia will be a more valuable
Imperial asset, when the tariff has made her self-contained,
than if, under Free Trade, she produced only raw
materials. The interests of the Empire may best be
served by decentralising its manufacturing power.

Imperial Preference

In this view Mr. Deakin and his party in 1907 deU-
berately re-adjusted the tariff for the preservation and
encouragement of Australian industries, even against
British competition ; but, at the same time, Preferential
treatment was accorded to several important Hues of
British goods, in order to give an advantage over

classic example of the superiority of Free Trade ; but the remark-
able development of that State in manufactures since the uniform
tarifE has convinced many that her previous position was due to
natural causes, and to the large revenues which she received
from loans and from the sale or use of public lands.

* Party cries survive long after they have lost their meaning ;
so that in New South Wales there is still a " Free Trade " party.
But as leader, Mr. Reid has professed his readiness to accept
Protection.

* In July, 1907, a number of merchants in the City of London
addressed a protest to the Colonial Office against the proposed
increase of duties. This was an echo of similar protests which
were raised until 1884 against every increase of the Canadian
tariff. (See Porritt's " Sixty Years of Protection in Canada,"
pp. 196-8.)

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

competing foreign goods. ^ This, which is the Imperial
aspect of the tariff, must be now discussed.^

Australia stands to gain so much from favoured treat-
ment in the market of Great Britain, that the poUcy of
Imperial Preference is hardly a party question. Indeed,
the unanimity upon this point has brought upon Australia
the reproach of selfishness. Justice accordingly demands
that her actions and motives shall not be misimderstood.

There was certainly nothing selfish in the first grant
of Preference, for it was made immediately upon the
refusal of the British Government to accord reciprocal
treatment. *' But," the critics of Australia say, '* the
gift was small, and the method of making it shows
that the motive was higher protection and not regard for
England." Both these statements have found credence
in England and need careful examination.

First as to the money value of the Preference accorded.

This must be to some extent an estimate, because no
one can foretell how prices will be adjusted to the new
S3^tem. But the presumption is that a Preference of
from 8 to 15 per cent, should exercise an effective influence
in diverting trade. The AustraUan tariff gives a
Preference of that amount on goods which, according to

^ Preference to the products of the South African Colonies had
been given in 1906. Negotiations for reciprocal preference with
Canada are in progress.

* At least ;£1 50,000.000 a year is spent by Great Britain in
the purchase from foreigners of products which Australia could
supply. A mere fraction of this enormous trade would establish
her industrial position. Under a system of Preferential trade
her exports of butter, cheese, flour, cereals, meat, sugar and fruit
would largely increase, and many thousands of acres would
come under cultivation, to the advantage of all her other indus-
tries. It is true that she must share these advantages with
Canada, South Africa and the British farmer. It is true also
that Canada from her proximity to the market, might profit
most. But the very magnitude of the market is a sufficient
guarantee that all can share it, and as the Empire is one, it is
immaterial that its parts benefit unequally.

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BRITISH TRADE

last year's figures, should give England new trade, at the
expense of foreigners, to the amount of about jf 1,500,000,
and should retain this for her in the future with all its
natural increase. The amount is no doubt small in
comparison with the total volume of British trade, but
its magnitude is to be measured by the future growth
of Australia, and it is only intended as a beginning.
The attitude of the British Government made a larger
gift impracticable. That any gift was made at all, under
the circumstances, was somewhat magnanimous ; but
when it was made, as this was, avowedly as a mere inti-
mation of the willingness of Australia to n^otiate with
Great Britain for other and larger Preferences, on reci-
procal terms, ungracious criticisms of this nature miss
the mark. They are also based on ignorance of the
position of English trade with Australia, which is more
easily perceived by thepublic in a small conununity Kving on
the seaboard, than among a population with the complex
and varied interests of the inland cities of Great Britain.
During the last twenty years Australia has been witness of
a steady increase in her trade with foreign countries at the
expense of Great Britain, a reversal of the proper order
of things, which is brought home to every voter in the
capital cities by the visible displacement of the red ensign
by foreign flags. If Preference were only to succeed in
arresting the decline it would be a real advantage to
British trade. This cannot be fully appreciated until some
features of Australian trade, during the last twenty years,
have been explained by figures.

The Displacement of British Trade

Since 1886 the volume of imports from the United
Kingdom, including the produce of other countries
re-exported into Australia, has remained almost stationary,
while the imports of British produce have steadily de-
creased. During the same period the imports of foreign

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

goods into Australia have steadily increased in volume.
As a result, the proportion of the total trade, imports
and exports, done by the Commonwealth with the
United Kingdom, is yearly lessening, and the propor-
tion of it which is done with foreigners is yearly grow-
ing. Australia buys every year less British goods
and more foreign goods, and sends every year less raw
materials to Great Britain and more raw materials to
foreign countries. In other words, while British trade is
decreasing, foreign trade is increasing. Presumably this
increase in the foreign trade is at the expense of the British.
The first illustrative table in this connection is taken
from the " Commonwealth Year Book," and shows the
decline in the exports of British produce.

Table I

The value of United Kingdom produce, exported from

the United Kingdom to Australia from 1887-1906

(quinquennial averages).

Year Value

1887-1891 ;^0,119,000

1892-1896 £14,533,000

1897-1901 ;f 19.045,000

1901-1906 ;^18,046,000

During the same period the value of produce of other
countries which was re-exported from the United King-
dom, remained almost stationary at about £3,900,000.
During the first quinquennial this was 14*52 per cent, of
the total exports from the United Kingdom to Australia,
during the last (1901-6) it was 15*06 per cent. It is,
therefore, apparent that the decline in the value of the
total exports from Great Britain to Australia has not
been* due, as has been sometimes suggested, to the increase
of direct shipments from foreign countries, but to a falling
ofi in the sale of articles of British production.

This decline in the export of British goods might be
attributed to the development of Australian industries,

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

were it not that during the same period the export of
foreign goods has increased. The following table, which
gives the values as entered in Australian ports, shows the
relative growth of British and foreign trade since 1891,
and the percentage of each for each year to the total
value of imports into Australia. The same information
is given as to imports from British possessions, which show
a very satisfactory growth.

These figures cannot be regarded as satisfactory from
any point of view. They show that, whatever year be
taken as a starting point and whether the enquiry be
limited to the fluctuations in the imports of United
Kingdom produce, or extended, as in the last table, to
include all produce shipped from the United Kingdom,
there has been a steady expansion of foreign trade at the
expense of British, which has been especially marked
since 1897. England, which in 1891 did 70* 1 per cent, of
the Australian trade, did only 59*5 in 1906, while foreigners
have increased their percentage since 1891 from 18*3
per cent, to 25*5 per cent. The percentages during the
quinquennial periods and for 1966, of the import trade into
Australia done by the United Kingdom, British Posses-
sions and foreign countries, are given in the next table,
which is taken from the " Conmionwealth Year Book."

Table III
Average Percentages of the Imports into Australia from
(a) The United Kingdom, (6) British Possessions, (c)
Foreign countries, during quinquennial periods, 1886-1906.

1889-91

1892-98

1897-01

1901-06

1906

per cent.

percent.

The United

Kingdom

7014

70-92

62-77

58-30

59-39

British

Poesessions

12-41

11-48

1118

13-60

15-00

Foreign

Countries

17-45

17-60

2605

. 2810

25-52

Total

100

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EXPORTS

It will be observed that the year 1906 shows a recovery
in favour of England.

Mr. Knibbs, the statistician of the Commonwealth, gives
another striking illustration of the displacement of British
trade. Grouping together leading lines of articles which
represented 66'50 per cent, of the total imports for 1906,
and the import of which has increased since 1886 by
3^7,250,000, he enquires into the share in this increase of,
respectively. Great Britain, the United States, and
Germany. The result is that 18*034 per cent, of the increase
was from the United States, 25*54 per cent, from Germany,
and only 22*82 per cent, from the United Kingdom.

During the same period Australian exports have in
increasing quantities been diverted from the United
Kingdom to foreign countries. The figures for quin-
quennial periods are given in the enclosed table, compiled
from the " Year Book "—

Table IV

Table showing the relative quantities and percentage of

the total of exports (including butter and specie) from

Australia to (a) The United Kingdom ; (b) British

possessions ; (c) Foreign countries.

Coontiy

Yearljr average of Quinqueniiial Periods

Year

1886-91

1892-96

1896-01

1902-06

1906

(a) The United

Kingdom

Total in

;fOOO,000

22-60

23-03

25-33

26-46

32-85

Percentage

74-74%

69-65%

57-01%

46-09%

4712%

(b) British

Possessiona

Total in

;g000.000

2-49

2-82

6-89

13-87

13-85

Percentage

8-46%

8-53%

15-52%

25-11%

19-86%

Countries

Total in

;£000.000

4-95

7-21

12-20

15-90

23-03

Percentage

16-80%

21-82%

27-47%

28-80%

33-02%

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALU

Some part of the deviation of Australian exports is due
to direct shipment of wool purchased in Australia by
foreign buyers to France and Gennany which at one time
was shipped vid London. But not enough allowance can
be made upon this score to explain the change in the
destination of such large quantities of Australian exports.

Should Trade Foixow the Flag ?

The bearing of the facts, which these figures illustrate,
is plain and direct upon the attitude of Australians
towards the pohcy of Preference, Rightly or wrongly —
and these pages are an explanation, not a justification —
Australians believe that it is better to do business with
kinsmen than with strangers ; and, convinced of their
present importance and future greatness, they cannot
agree that it makes no material difference to England
whether she or Germany does the AustraUan trade.*
Accordingly they desire by means of Preferential duties
to restore to England the trade which she has lost, owing
to the action of her trade rivals in using the organised
power of the State to facilitate the operations of private
persons, through cheap railway rates and subsidised lines
of steamers. The effort may not succeed, but the
making of it should not be censured or derided in Great
Britain.

^ England's chief competitors are Germany and the United
States. Each of these countries places serious impediments in
the way of Australian conmierce. The United States forbid
an Australian steamer from carrying any cargo between the
Philippines or the Sandwich Islands and the United States. The
German Government has inserted a clause in the contract with
the North German Lloyd, — whose heavily subsidised vessels are
doing most damage to British shipping — prohibiting any steamer
of the Company tcom bringing an ounce of Australian meat or
pound of Australian flour, or indeed any food or primary pro-
ducts of the country except wool and minerals, into Germany,
on pain of forfeiting the subsidy. These examples offer a fair
measure of the desire of these countries to trade with Australia.

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AUSTRALIAN PREFERENCE

The Value of the Gift of Preference

The complaint that the method and motive of Australian
Preference were unworthy needs to be examined next.

This rests upon the fact that Preference was given by
a surtax on the new duties which the tariff proposed, in
respect of foreign goods, and not by a rebate of the old
duties in favour of British goods, and is the old misunder-
standing of Australian fiscal policy in a new form. Under
a protective sj^tem, duties cannot be reduced below the
level at which they are effective. Accordingly rebates can
only be granted by a country which has adopted Pro-
tection, when the duties are already higher than are
necessary for protective purposes. " Give me," said Mr.
Deakin, " a tariff at the Canadian rates, and I can intro-
duce Preference by the Canadian method of reducing
duties." As things were, it was not possible to reduce
rates in favour of British goods without abandonment of
the protective principle, because the Australian tariff
already pressed less heavily upon British goods than any
tariff in the world. According to the estimate of the
Board of Trade the average duty levied by the 1901 tariff
upon the principal articles of British export was only 6
per cent. This table brings other rates under comparison.

Table V

Table showing the estimated average ad valorem equiva-
lent of the Import Duties levied by the undermentioned
countries on tiie principal articles of British export from
the United Kingdom : —

Country Per Cent

Canada . • 16^0

Belgium • . 13*0

New Zealand •• 9*0
The Commonwealth 6*0
South African Colonies 6*0

Another consideration precluded any lowering of the
tariff, namely, the shortage in Queensland and Tasmania

2se

Country

Per Cent

Russia

.. 1310

United States

. . 730

Austria Hungary

.• 350

France

• . 340

Italy

.. 250

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

between the sum received back from the Commonwealth
under the Braddon clause of the Constitution, and the
sum which they had formerly raised by their own tariffs.
Any reduction in the Commonwealth revenue by rebates
on the excise duties would have still further increased
the financial difficulties of both the States and the
Commonwealth. The provisions of the Constitution thus
placed great and probably insuperable difficulties in the
way of Preference by means of rebates. The only alter-
native was a surtax on foreign goods above the rate at
which British goods were admitted. It may happen that
in some instances the duties were raised so high that
they wiU prove prohibitive of all imports, so that the
Preference in such cases will be operative. But the beUef
and intention is and was that the normal rate should not
be too high to admit British goods while the surtax should
be sufficient to exclude foreign goods. As has been
said, time alone can test the experiment ; but it is right
even now to appreciate its nature.

Preference to British Ships

The method of Preference which would be most effective
and which, it is greatly to be regretted, was not adopted
in 1907, would be a reduction of the surtax on foreign
goods provided they were carried in British ships.
One of the planks in the platform of the ''Austrahan
Preferential League," which was founded in Sydney in
1903, was to confer some direct advantage upon British
ships by the poUcy of Preference. This, indeed, should be
the essence of any Preferential scheme. The Empire
depends upon conunerce ; commerce depends upon the
Empire : but the effective instrument for the security of
both is British shipping. Consequently whether the
method of Preference be by rebate or surtax, goods which
are carried in British bottoms should receive some
favouring treatment. Either the rebate should be

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SHIPPING

increased ; or if the method is by surtax, an additional
charge should be levied on goods, which have been carried
in foreign ships. Probably an additional surtax of 10 per
cent, on such goods would entirely check the displacement
of British by foreign produce, and would give an imme-
diate and much-needed stimulus to the mercantile
marine, which is the nursery of the Navy. Foreign
vessels are already securing an increasing proportion
of Australian trade, although the *greater part, 72*84
per cent., is still done by vessels of British nationality.
The respective tonnages and percentages are given
below.

Table VI

Nationality of vessels entering and clearing from the
Commonwealth over-sea.

Year 1904

Year 1905

Year 1906

British.

Tonnage in 000 tons

5035

5-545

5-802

Percentage

75-35 %

74-49%

72-84

Foreign

Tonnage in 000 tons

1-646

1-899

2-163

Percentage

24-65%

25-51 %

2716

Mr. Knibbs remarks upon these figures : ^ " Of the
increase in tonnage in 1906 as compared with 1904, viz.,
1,284,647 tons, 767,930 tons {i.e., 59*78 per cent,), was
British and 516,717 tons {i.e.^ 40'22 per cent.) was foreign,
and the increase of 1906 over 1905 was only 49*32 for
British ships. But to sustain the proportion of British
toimage as in 1904 it was necessary that 75*35 per cent,
should have been British." •

1 " Commonwealth Year Book/' p. 533.

' The shipping business of Sydney and Melbourne is only
exceeded by four ports in the United Kingdom, namely, London,
Liverpool, Cardiff and Newcastle.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Extensions of the Poucy of Preference
The policy of Imperial Preference is not, however,
exhausted by encouraging British goods and British
shipping in Australia, Canada, and South Africa. It
could be apphed with equal advantage to the Empire in
the Crown Colonies of Hong Kong and the Straits
Settlements, which are the two distributing ports for the
great markets of the Far East. A preference to Imperial
flour in either of these would win back the Eastern
trade in that commodity, which is now monopolised by
an American Trust, financed by the magnates of ** Standard
Oil." English merchants would benefit also in their
competition with Germany for the Chinese trade, since
no other port along the coast of China can offer the
advantages of Hong Kong. When the Empire becomes
conscious of itself, or men of business seriously attempt
to organise its powers. Preference wiU be found a useful
instrument for many unsuspected purposes. In the
meantime ajl portions of the Empire owe gratitude to
Canada, South Africa, and AustraUa for maintaining
preferential treatment for British goods in the face of
neglect and discouragement. It is early yet to judge
of the effect of Preference in Australia ; but it would
seem from the figures of the past ten months that, as
in Canada, the decline in British trade is being arrested,
and that England will, before long, regain the ground
which she has lost to foreign rivals.

Preference and Imperial Union

The poUcy of Preference, as understood in Australia,
is only one part of a large poUcy of constructive Impe-
rialism. It is the first step towards that **free union of free
commonwealths," which is the ideal of the new Impe-
rialism and includes every means by which the parts of
the Empire may be brought into closer relations. Not
the least important of these is the diffusion of knowledge

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CABLE SERVICE

about each part, so that all may be united by a common
S3mipathy. No single means would more effectually
remove many causes of friction and misunderstanding^
than improved cable communications. The day is long
passed since intercourse by post was sufficient for ordinary
requirements. Events now move so quickly that States
and individuals need to be in constant touch, and affairs
can only be followed with a conmion interest, when the
facilities for observation are the same. People will not
read inteUigently about events which are six weeks old,
but need to follow them in detail, as they develop from
day to day. The ablest pressmen — ^and the AustraUan
cable service is well served—- cannot condense the affairs
of twenty-four hours into a few hundred cabled words.
Such condensations must be, at best, conclusions from
data which the reader should himself see and judge, and
cannot give (to take only one illustration) even the spirit
of a great speech. Yet, if the Empire is to remain one,
the doings and sayings of its leaders in every part of it
are of interest to all its members, and should be brought
within their knowledge. An American newspaper
catering for a pubUc of sixty millions, can give in the same
issue verbatim reports of speeches by an English, French,
or German Minister ; an Australian paper has perforce
to summarise the three in half a colunm. No one can
forecast the difference in habit, thought and poUcy, which
might be effected throughout the Empire by a state-
owned cable service, at an Imperial rate of one penny
a word. This would be a greater, because a more

^ The causes of difference or misunderstanding are innumerable
between remote countries with diverse, and at times, conflicting
interests ; and each successive Australian generation is further
removed in sympathy from England and more inclined to concen-
trate its interest upon local affairs. True, the old ties remain of
race and language; but time and distance are disintegrating
influences, which " the crimson thread of kinship " by itself
cannot hold back. The most bitter quarrels are, proverbially,
those of kinsmen.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

far-reaching refonn than penny postage. The present
cable rates, 2s. 6d. a word, are prohibitive of social
messages and very hampering to the Press, which, owing
to the cost of cables, has in Australia syndicated its
foreign despatches. In plain English, this means that
the four millions of Australians only read such English
and foreign news as one gentleman in Fleet Street chooses
to put before them — " and what he knows not is not
knowledge ! *' However well the work is done, the
task would be too great for human ability. Australia
will never be in the main stream of civilisation imtil a
cheap cable service informs and stimulates the national
mind and quickens the national sjonpathies.

Other faciUties for intercourse and the spread of
knowledge need improvement ; and this, too, is part of the
policy of Preference. " Every time," said Mr. Deakin in
introducing into Parliament the proposal to grant Prefer-
ence to Great Britain, " I have touched upon this subject.
I have, from the first, included improved cable com-
munication, mail conmiuncation, and the diffusion of
commercial inteUigence, the multiplying of commercial
agencies in the country — all as parts of one system. I
have never severed them. Preferential trade, with me,
means all these things, as well as promoting our dealing
with each others' commodities. But of course the centre
and pivot is tariff Preferences,"

Perhaps the time will come when knowledge of the
Empire shall be deemed so indispensable to a legislator
that the House of Commons and the ParUaments of
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa, will
vote monies to provide every Member with the opportunity
of visiting all parts of the Empire at least once in his
pubUc Ufe. The ideal of Imperial imity cannot be
appreciated without knowledge ; nor the amplitude
of the resources of the Empire^ nor the part it plays in
civilisation as r^esenting the ideas of order, liberty,

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** LITTLE AUSTRALIANS ••

and progress. There is danger too in the isolation of
any part of this great whole. For it must be remembered
that, as there are " Little Englanders," who believe that
a small community Uke Holland is most conducive to the
welfare of a people, so there are "Little Australians,"
whose vision is not Uf ted beyond the horizon of their own
Commonwealth. To break down barriers by connecting
self-governing conununities by the tie of commercial
interest is the first work of a tariff Preference.

This is no place to state the case for Preference — ^which
will prove as advantageous to Great Britain as to the
dominions over-sea — ^but two considerations from an
Australian standpoint may fittingly be pressed in a book
about Australia.

In the first place, did not the last Imperial Conference
show the lesson, that every scheme for closer imion hinged
upon tariff Preference, because there is no inducement to
concerted action without a conunon interest. Lacking
this, the Conference wholly failed to obtain any outward
sign of the existence of the Empire. Mr. Deakin tried
in vain to get a formal recognition of the equality of
its component nations, by the establishment of a Secre-
tariat for Imperial purposes, which should be responsible
to the Conference, as representing the Empire, and not
merely to Great Britain. Nor was it possible to obtain
agreement on any other definite proposal for securing
union. Even such an important question as that of
Imperial communications roused sUght interest.

Tariff Preference, then, in Mr. Gladstone's phrase,
" holds the field," for there is no other proposal by which
the same end can be effected.

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CHAPTER II

Thb Problem of Commerce — ^The "Harvester" Case — The
Australian Industries Preservation Act — ^TarifEs and Labour —
Tariff and Corruption.

The preceding chapters will have made dear the intense
conviction of Australians that Parliament ought to secure
to manual workers a high standard of wages and living.
Obviously, however, this would not be possible, if Austra-
Uan workmen had to compete against the low-grade or
sweated labour of foreign countries. Tariffs are one
obvious method of securing protection against this
danger. But experience shows that tariffs may become
a shield for trusts and combines, which may reap the
benefit of monopoly prices, while keeping the wages of
workmen at a low level. Is it, then, impossible to encou-
rage native industries by Customs duties, and yet at the
same time secure a share in the advantages of higher prices
to the workmen in the protected industries ? This is
one of those problems in the discussion of which the
Australian Parhament is at its best, for Australian
methods are generally as ingenious and original, as they
are simple and direct.

The "Harvester" Case

The problem in this particular case was presented to
Parliament in the concrete form of an attempt by an
American Trust to destroy an Australian industry, by
selling imported agricultural machines at cut rates, and
the handhng of it by ParUament presents a typical
example of Australian methods and policy. The matter
arose in this way.

After thirteen years of arduous and rather disappointing

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THE HARVESTER TRUST

work an Australian manufacturer had devised a combined
" stripper harvester," which is so pecuharly adapted to
the agricultural conditions of Australia and America,
that it not only commanded a large sale in the Common-
wealth, but in 1905 was being exported to the Argentine
RepubUc. The making of these machines gave employ-
ment in that year to 2,500 men, and one firm in the trade
paid £45,000 a year in wages. Before the local manufac-
ture took firm root — ^it was planted in Victoria under the
encouragement of a tariff, — the sale of agricultural
machinery was controlled by a ring of importers. The
result was that, before Federation, agricultural machinery
was dearer in the Free Trade colony of New South Wales,
where there was no local competition, than in Victoria,
where the local manufacturer competed with the importer.
After Federation, when the interstate tariffs disappeared,
prices fell in New South Wales to the Victorian level.

In America the manufacture of agricultural implements
is in the hands of a combine known as " The International
Harvester Trust," of which Mr. Rockefeller, of Standard
Oil notoriety, is reputed to be the controUing spirit.
According to sworn testimony before the Tariff Conamis-
sion, on April 28th, 1905, this Trust copied (" pirated "
was the word used in evidence) the Australian machine,
and men set to work to oust the Australian manufacturer
from his own home market. The Trust, according to a
representative in AustraUa, does 90 per cent, of the
world's trade in harvesting machinery, and is '" after the
other ten." ** We are determined," one of their agents
is sworn to have said, ** to get hold of the trade in har-
vesting machinery, and it is only a matter of a little time
imtil we knock out all the local men. We have unlimited
money behind us, and even if we work at a loss for three
years we are bound to win. . . . We don't care what
money it costs ; we will secure the trade. McKay " (the
leading Australian manufacturer in this line) *'had an

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

offer from us to buy him out, and he will live tor^et the
day that he refused the offer. We are going to close him
up.'*

In pursuance of this policy machines were imported
from America and sold in Australia below cost. What
was the Australian to do ? Was he to stand by while
the American Trust destroyed this peculiarly Australian
industry by imfair means, and rejoice that the farmer
was getting a cheap machine ? If he followed this
advice, what was the " something else " which the
2,500 workmen in his trade could find to do ? Ought
he not, rather — ^recognising that the first need of Aus-
tralia is population and that employment is the magnet
to population — ^to have determined to preserve this
industry, even if, in order to do so, he must infringe
the " Laws of Political Economy " ? If he took the
view that the home industry might perish rather than
deprive the farmers of cheap machines, was it so certain
that the American Trust would not raise its prices directly
it controlled the market ? According to a witness before
the Commission, the price the Trust charged for a stripper
harvester in America was £140. The same machine was
sold in the Argentine for £00. Would the Trust have sold
in Australia at £140 or at £00 if local competition were
destroyed ? But tariffs, we are told, must raise prices.
No doubt they would do so in Dr. Pangloss' economic
world, but in AustraUa, as a matter of fact, they lowered
them. Before the tariff, the importers* ring charged £50
for a binder ; when the tariff came they dropped the
price to £25. Yet, theoretically, an Australian Trust
might be formed, behind the tariff wall, to exploit the
farmers in the same way as the International Harvester
Trust, so that Parliament had to guard against creating
one evil by remedjring another.

ParUament accordingly in 1906 set itself to the double
object of combating the National Harvester Trust, and

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INDUSTRIES PRESERVATION ACT

safeguarding the interest of the consumers of agricultural
machinery against monopoly and dumping.

The Australian Industries Preservation Act

The Act by which this double object is attempted is
one of the most original and interesting of Australian
experiments. Known under the title of the " Australian
Industries Preservation Act ** (1906, No. 9), it is divided
into two parts, the first of which is intended to " repress
monopoUes,'* the second " to prevent dumping." *

The clauses of the first part of the Act contain very
stringent provisions against "combinations to restrain
trade or commerce to the detriment of the public or with
intent to destroy or injure by means of unfair competition
any AustraUan industry the preservation of which is
advantageous to the Commonwealth," and makes the
participation in such a combination, whether as principal
or agent, an offence punishable by a fine of £500. The
definition of " unfair competition " is exceedingly inge-
nious. Competition is deemed to be " unfair," unless the
contrary is proved, whenever the competitor is a " Com-
mercial Trust " {i.e., a combination of persons whether
wholly or partly within or beyond Austraha for commer-
cial purposes), or whenever the competition results in an
unfair reduction of Australian wages, or displaces work-
men, or whenever the competitor gives rebates or other
inducements to encourage exclusive dealing. Another
clause forbids any combination with intent to monopohse
any trade to the detriment of the public under a penalty
of £500. Stringent provisions are added to ensure the
detection and punishment of offenders against these
clauses.

The second part of the Act empowers the Comptroller
General of Customs to prohibit or impose conditions upon

> " Dumping " is the term used in the Australian Act of
F^liament.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

the entry of dumped goods into the Commonwealth.
Dumped goods are goods which are imported with intent
to injure an Australian industry by means of unfair
competition, and " unfair competition " is defined in the
following words —

Sect. 18 (1). "Competition shall be deemed unfair^
unless the contrary is proved, if —

" (a) under ordinary circumstances of trade it would
probably lead to the Australian goods being no
longer produced or being vrithdrawn from the
market or being sold at a loss unless produced
at an inadequate remuneration for labour or
** (b) the means adopted by the person importing or
selling the imported goods are, in the opinion
of the Comptroller-General, or a Justice as the
case may be, unfair in the circumstances ; or
** (c) the competition would probably or does in fact
result in an inadequate remuneration for labour
in the Australian industry ; or
" {d) the competition would probably or does in fact
result in creating any substantial disorganization
in Australian industry or throwing workers out of
employment ; or
" {e) the imported goods have been purchased abroad
by or for the importer, from the manufacturer
or some person acting for or in combination with
him or accounting to him, at prices greatly below
their ordinary cost of production where produced
or market price where purchased ; or
" (/) the imported goods are imported by or for the
manufacturer, or some person acting for or in
combination with him or accounting to him,
and are being sold in Australia at a price which
is less than gives the person importing or sdling
them a fair profit upon their fair foreign market
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CONTROL OF TRUSTS

value, or their fair selling value if sold in the

country of production, together with all charges

after shipment from the place whence the goods

are exported directly to Australia (including

Customs duty).

" (2) In determining whether the competition is unfair,

regard shall be had to the management, the processes,

the plant and the machinery employed or adopted in the

Australian industry affected by the competition being

reasonably efficient, effective, and up-to-date."

In addition to this Act, which was of general appUca-
tion, a special duty was imposed on harvesters for the
protection of that threatened industry. These measures
have achieved considerable success, and the Standard Oil
interests have received an important check, although they
have not yet been defeated.

The value of these measures is, however, to be estimated
almost as much by their intention as by their achievement.
Australia has been the first country to face the most
difficult problem of modem industry in endeavouring
to secure society against the danger to which it is exposed
by the concentration of commercial power in a few hands.
In fighting for her own " harvester " industry, she has
been fighting for true hberty of trade throughout the
world. Mr. Rockefeller already controls the Ughting of
the world ; were he to succeed in the avowed object of the
" International Harvester Trust " he would also control
the world's food supply by controlling the essential means
of agricultural production. Such a situation would be
charged with incalculable danger to society.

Tariffs and Labour

It will have been observed that the Australian Industries
Preservation Act, although its primary object was the
restraint of foreign Trusts, appUes equally to Trusts within
the Commonwealth. For Australia would have gained

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

little by escaping from the American Trust if she fell at
once into the grip of an Australian one.

Consequently, in order to ensure that a protected
manufacturer should charge a reasonable price for the
products which the tariff enables him to make, and also
that the benefits of a Protective duty should not be
monopoUsed by an employer but shared with his workmen,
it was provided, in the Act which raised the duties
upon harvesters, that machines made in Australia should
not be sold at a higher price than the Act fixed, and that
if this price should be exceeded the Executive might
reduce the rate of duties, even to the extent of withdrawing
the tariff protection. By another Act of the same year
(No. 16 of 1906) an excise duty of one-half the duty
payable upon imported agricultural machinery was im-
posed upon similar machinery manufactured in Australlia.
But it was provided at the same time that the latter
duty should be remitted, if the manufacturer paid such
wages and manufactured his goods under such conditions
as might be approved by the President of the Industrial
Arbitration Court. Another Act carried into effect similar
provisions in regard to distilleries, and it was proposed
to apply the system of removable excise duties to all
industries which received Protection under the Common-
wealth tariff. The Act relating to agricultural machinery
(No. 16 of 1906) was, however, declared unconstitutional
by the High Court in July, 1908, and a new method must
now be sought for giving effect to the desires of Parliament.
The Legislation, however, although now ineffective,
remains on the Statute Book as the pioneer effort of any
Parliament to apportion the benefits of a protective
system fairly between employers and employed, and pre-
vent advantage being taken of the tariff to raise prices
unduly. Even a failure is creditable in such a cause. ^

^ It is now proposed to amend the Constitution to bring such
legislation within the powers of the Commonwealth Parliament.

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THE HONOUR OF THE HOUSE

Tariffs and Corruption

Such legislation as that which has just been described
shows an Australian legislature at its best. There is an
air of business about the discussion of such measures and
a refreshing directness of aim, which justifies and enlivens
even the long wrangle over the items of a proposed tariff.
Obviously the opportunities, which such a measure as the .
Excise Tariff Act offers for corrupt trafficking in votes are
numerous and the temptation is great. The Members of
the Australian Parliament are mostly poor in this world's
riches, and collective business interests are not more
scrupulous in Australia than elsewhere. Yet such is the
restraining force of a high Parliamentary tradition, that
votes directed by improper influences are as rare in Aus-
tralia as they are frequent in America. Indeed, the
House is so sensitive of its honour that it resents even
legitimate attempts of manufacturers to bring their
interests under notice. A duty on pianos was almost
rejected, because a manufacturer — ^to confute a pubUc
statement by a member that no good piano could be
made in Australia, — sent one for inspection and use to
ParUament House. The beUef, indeed, in the dose
connection between tariff and corruption, is a hazy
generalisation from the experience of the United States
and of Canada influenced by American example. It
is the more necessary to emphasize the contrast in
this, as in other respects, between Australia and the
United States, because Mr. Bryce in his apologetic
account^ of the dishonesty and corruption of American
politics, suggests that this is a necessary feature of
democracy. " Democracies will be democratic. Equality
will have its perfect work." The experience of Australia
furnishes no ground for such a gloomy view of popular
government.

» " The American Conunon wealth," Vol. II, p. 439.

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CHAPTER III

The Policy — Its Administration — ^The Language Test — Coloured
Crews — Kanaka Labour and the Sugar Industry — ^The White
Man and the Tropics — Conclusion.

Nothing has more perplexed foreign observers or been
the object of more ill-natured criticism than the deter-
mination of Australians to dear their country of the taint
of coloured labour, which has been represented as a
selfish attempt to dose the labour market against
dangerous competitors and as exhibiting a reckless dis-
regard of Imperial interests. In truth it is a policy of
high patriotism, conceived and executed in loyalty to
the Empire and calculated to conserve its strength, which
is supported with passionate conviction by the majority
of native-bom Austrahans, from a beUef that they owe
it as a duty to civilisation to preserve their land for the
white races. It is well that Englishmen who wish to
understand Australia should reahse this, because upon
this part of Australian policy there can be no compromise.
Again, however, it is probably the point of view, and not
any want of S3anpathy which causes misgiving and differ-
ence. Let us, therefore, examine the question as it
presents itself to an Australian.

Australia, it will be remembered, has an almost homo-
geneous people of British origin. " It is the one continent
of great natural wealth, most of which has a healthy,
temperate climate, which can be occupied by white men
without any serious change in their habit of life and which
was found practically imoccupied. Except in the water-
less waste of the interior and the narrow bdt of low
coast lands on the north, all the work necessary to
develop the continent could be done by white labour.
Australia offers a unique opportunity for tiie development

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COLOURED LABOUR

of a prosperous industrial community ; for it is a rich
field only partially occupied : it is sheltered by its
distance, but easily accessible to trade : while it is un-
hampered by hereditary interests or servile conditions." *
So writes Professor Gregory — ^who, like every observer
on the spot, beUeves in a " White Australia " — ^in words
which contain the key to the whole problem. AustraHa
has an opportunity of developing a white continent for
the British race, if she only has the courage to make a
temporary sacrifice. Let black labour gain any footing
and either a low standard of living will replace a higher,
or a section of the continent will be peopled by white
masters and black slaves, whose instincts and interests
will always be anatagonistic to those of the rest of the
Commonwealth. It is true that the tropical portions of
Australia may, in consequence, remain imdeveloped for
many years, although this is not certain ; but Australians
are prepared to make this sacrifice, rather than endure
the evils of a mixed race, or create a repetition of those
difficulties which nearly severed the United States.

Its Administration

At the same time, the poUcy is administered with a
due regard to the susceptibiUties of Asiatic States. No
respectable traveller is excluded or in any way incon-
venienced on account of his colour ; and during the four
months of the Labour Ministry, under Mr. Watson,
arrangements were made with the Japanese Empire to
admit Japanese merchants, students or visitors, who did
not contemplate settlement, provided they were furnished
with the credentials from the Foreign Office of the
Mikado's Government.

Nor have Austrahans, in their zeal for their national
ideal, been obUvious of the higher duty which they owe

^ Introduction to Vol. II of *' The Historical Geography of
Australana/' in the " Compendium of Geography/' Stimford.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

the Empire. Parliament at first proposed to enact the
direct exclusion of all coloured aliens and restrict the
entry even of coloured British subjects. At the request
of the Colonial Office the law was modified to achieve the
desired result in an indirect fashion, by the use of a
language test, namely, the writing from dictation of fifty
words in any European language which the Immigration
Officer may select. This device, which has been the
object of much cheap derision, already existed in the law
of Natal and was only adopted by Australians in
deference to the wish of the British Government.

Coloured Crews

The prohibition of coloured labour upon ships engaged
in the coastal trade was a logical extension of the " White
Australia " doctrine. This was effected by the indirect
means— direct compulsion was impossible, — of requiring
that Australian rates of wages should be paid on all ships
which carry cargo between Australian ports in competi-
tion with Australian vessels. The carriage of passengers by
these steamers is not forbidden. A clause has been inserted
also in the mail contract, prohibiting the employment
of black labour on board the mail steamers. It happened
that, at the time when this condition was proposed,
there was a dispute between the Commonwealth and the
Orient Steamship Company, which then held the Austra-
lian mail contract. This was made the ground of many
hardy fictions to the discredit of the Australian Govern-
ment, which kept in circulation even after the secretary
of the Company had written to the Times on March 30,
1905, explaining that the question of black labour had not
entered into the dispute. The door is always open how-
ever for negotiations by the Government of India ; and
the object of Australians would be achieved with less
friction, by insisting that the equipment of all subsidised
steamers should be up to a prescribed standard, which

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THE SUGAR INDUSTRY

would make the emplo3mient of Lascars too costly and
ensure the proper treatment of efficient British sailors.

Kanaka Labour and the Sugar Industry

The poUcy of a White Australia was exposed to a
severe strain when the Commonwealth ParUament
passed the Pacific Island Labourers Act of 1901 (amended
1906), prohibiting the further importation of Kanaka
labour for the sugar plantations, and providing for
the gradual deportation of those akeady in Australia.
To soften this blow to the sugar industry, the Excise
Tariff Act of 1902, for which the Sugar Boimty Act was
substituted in 1903, gave bounties on sugar grown by
white labour, equal to four shillings per ton on cane giving
10 per cent, of sugar. In 1905 the rate was increased to
six shillings per ton, and the pa3nnent of bounties continued
until the end of 1912, with a progressive reduction in the
rate during the last two years. ^ The cost of this experi-
ment to the people of Australia has been over a million
pounds during the last five years ; but the prophecies
of ruin to the sugar industry have not been fulfilled. In
the first year of the new system the yield fell from 1 ,367,000
tons to 825,000 tons, but after the first apprehensions
had been dispersed, it increased yearly, until in 1906-7
the yield was 1,950,340 tons, which is the largest recorded.
This increase is mainly due to improvements in the
methods of production, which the greater cost of labour
has made necessary.* The question in the future seems
to be one of wages. It has been proved that — contrary
to a widespread expectation — ^white men can work in

^ There was an Excise duty on manufactured sugar from
March, 1902, until Dec., 1905, of three shillings per cwt. Until
the introduction of the direct Bounty in 1903, a rebate of 4s. per
ton was allowed on white-grown sugar. From Jan. 1, 1907, the
duty has been 4s. per cwt.

* Hie acreage under cultivation for sugar has remained
practically stationary since 1902-3 at about 150,000 acres.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

the cane fields : it has yet to be seen whether the industry
can support the cost of their labour without bounties.
The same considerations apply to the cultivation of rice
and cotton, for which the dimate and ph3^ical features
of Northern Queensland are very suitable. In other
words, can white men colonise the tropical portions of
Australia — ^that is to say, can they Uve and make their
homes there ? This is, at the present time, the most
important problem in the political geography of Australia.

The White Man and the Tropics

Professor Gr^ory, in discussing this question, cites
many examples and authorities, which tend to show that
the idea that a tropical climate is, per sCy inimical to the
health of Europeans, is a popular prejudice, which rests
upon no adequate foundation. Dr. J. C. Elkington, of
Hobart, in a paper entitled " Tropical Australia : Is it
Suitable for a Working White Race ? " read before the
Royal Society of Tasmania and pubUshed by the CommcMi-
wealth as a Parliamentary Paper, ^ concludes that this
is certainly true of the inhabited districts of Northern
Queensland ; and agrees with the view expressed by Dr.
Sambon in a paper contributed to the British Medical
JouffuU for January 9th, 1907, * that " acclimatisation is
a mere question of sanitation and of protection against
diseases which are due not to climate but to parasites."
" The human race," he says, " was probably originally
evolved in the tropics, and there seems no reason why
the residence of the white races in temperate regions
should have so altered them constitutionally, that they
cannot again Uve and work, under favourable conditions,
in their original home." It was at one time beUeved

1 1905. No. 59.

• " Remarks on the Possibility of the Acclimatisation of
Europeans in Tropical Regions." Quoted by Professor Gregory.
Introduction to Vol. II Australasia in Stanford's " Compendium
of Geography."

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o
<
<
<

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LIFE IN THE TROPICS

that Algeria could never be colonised by the French.
Sambon quotes General Duvinier : *' Que les cimetHres
sofU les seules colonies toufours croissant en Algirie.^^ And
in another place the same writer says : " The high death-
rate of the tropics can be reduced greatly by care and
sanitation. It has been due not to heat or climate, but
to the prevalence of parasites and germs, such as those
of malaria, yellow fever, dysentery, beri-beri, elephantia-
sis, etc. And when these parasites are discovered and
their life histories known, tiiere is no more reason why
these tropical diseases should not be easily *cured, and
even wholly destroyed, just as leprosy has been driven
from England, as tricl±iosis has been eliminated by
meat inspection, hydrophobia by control of dogs, malaria
has been driven from Essex by drainage, and the scourge
of small-pox removed by vaccination. Current research
on tropical diseases tends to remove climate as a factor
limiting the occupation of the tropics to white races."
That the moist atmosphere of the tropics causes some
muscular relaxation is true ; but this can be met, in
the case of women, by a longer rest after child-birth,
and in the case of men by strict attention to diet and
exercise. Men do not need to work at manual labour
in the tropics so hard as in a temperate climate. " A
man in the tropics," to quote Professor Gregory again,
"would no doubt plough a shorter furrow or shovel a
smaller load of eartii than the same man would with an
equal amount of exertion in a cold country. But the same
amoimt of labour put into a tropical soil would produce a
more valuable crop." Tropical cultivation needs assiduous
attention, but does not require great muscular exertions,
except for trashing sugar-cane. Dr. Sambon further
points out that the idea that European children cannot
be successfully reared in the tropics is also out of date.
Children are sent to England from India more to escape
the associations of native Ufe than because the dima,te

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

injures them. "The infant mortality among the
European children in* Calcutta is lower than that of many
English towns, and seven times less than that of Hindoo
or Mohanmiedan children in the same dty."

The foregoing observations and opinions, although they
justify hope, offer no immediate solution of the problem
of tropical development. The tropics have not yet been
purified by sanitation ; and much research has still
to be made into the causes of disease in these regions,
before the white man can permanently make his home
there.

Conclusion

The error of those who condemn the White Australia
poUcy, is in treating it as an economic question, whereas
it is essentially a political one. No one denies that the
north of Australia could be developed much more rapidly
by coloured labour, or that some crops, ipf which cotton is
one, can never be profitably produced there without an
abimdance of cheap labour ; but such considerations are
beside the question. Austrahans keep out coloured labour
for pohtical and not for economic reasons. They intend at
all costs to preserve the purity of the white race. Nor
is the economic loss as great as it might seem. Australians
have already more work than they can do in the more
temperate portions of the country. The development
of the tropical North can well wait. In time a denser
population will diminish the danger of miscegenation.
Then, when the idea of a white race has grown into a
traditional faith — ^but not until then, — ^it may be possible
to make some arrangements for the leasing of coloured
labour for spells of work in fields of rice or cotton.
At present, Austrahans are quite content that the
development of tropical productions should be delayed.

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CHAPTER IV

THE COMMONWEALTH AND IMMIGRATION

The Dictation Test — Contract Inunigrants — Strike-breakers —
Ambiguity Removed — State-aided Immigration.

The White Australia policy found its first expression
under the Commonwealth^ in 1901 in the unhappily
entitled " Immigration Restriction Act." The original
intention of the Government which introduced this
measure was to legislate directly for the exclusion of
coloured aliens, but in deference to the wish of the
Colonial Office, as has been already ihentioned, ' the
indirect method of a language test applicable to all races
was substituted for this. The Act accordingly contained
no reference either to the colour or nationality of any
immigrant, but by its terms, empowered a Customs Officer
to exclude any immigrant who could not write from
dictation fifty words in any European language which he
chose to select. A person unable to comply with this
test was Uable to be excluded as a " Prohibited Immi-
grant " ; and no exception to this rule was made by the
Act which might be applied to every person coining to the
Commonwealth.

The Government, however, on the introduction of the
bill, which was passed hurriedly towards the end of a
Session, had given an assurance which had been accepted
by ParUament, that the language test would only be
applied to coloured persons or other obviously un-
desirable immigrants who were not covered by the
clauses which prohibited the landing of persons, who by
reason of poverty or physical or mental incapacity were

^ Hie States had passed Chinese Restriction Acts so far back
as 1887.

• Above p. 134.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

likely to become a charge upon the State. Thus it was
common knowledge that the Act would not be used to
exclude any respectable white person of whatever nation-
aUty. None the less, and in spite of this assurance and
general understanding, the opponents of the Government
persisted in the assertion that white inunigrants would be
excluded, and succeeded in giving a widespread currency
to this mischievous falsehood. In fact, however, the
promise given by the Government to Parliament was
faithfully observed ; and from the day of the passing of
the Act until the present time (1908) no white person has
ever been siAmiUei to the language test, nor has any white
person been refused admittance to the Commonwealth.

Contract-Immigrants

The possibility of abusing the language test was not
the only stone flung by Australian provincialism against
the unlucky Immigration Restriction Act.

The section of this Act which defined "prohibited
immigrants," very awkwardly included criminals, lunatics,
paupers and other classes of imdesirables, with manual
labourers coming to Austraha under contract. It was
idle to point out to opponents of the Bill that the next
section empowered the Minister to grant a permit of
exemption to any prohibited immigrant, and that in this
respect also, a pledge had been given to ParUament that
the permit would never be unreasonably withheld. As
already stated, it has not been withheld on one occasion.

" Why, then,'' it may be asked, " insert such a clause
in the Act ? " For many years before the Commonwealth
came into existence the States had been compelled to
legislate against indentured English labour, and had
declared that contracts made in England for service in
Australia should be either void or voidable. Such
measures were necessary in the interest of the immigrants
themselves, who, from ignorance of local conditions would

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STRIKE-BREAKERS

have been trapped into engagements which were unfair
according to Australian standards. The Commonwealth
reached the same object by less drastic means. Instead
of annulling contracts of service made abroad, it required
that these should be submitted to the Minister before the
workman landed,* in order that it might be amended
if necessary. Obviously such a provision would, in prac-
tice, exclude no one, because if an employer refused to
amend the contract, the workman would be released from
it, and therefore be no longer within the category of a
" prohibited immigrant." So far, then, the Common-
wealth was establishing no new principle, but only
following a beaten track. In another direction, however,
the Immigration Act did impose a new restriction by
forbidding the landing of workmen who were under
contracts made abroad in view of an industrial dispute in
Australia.

Strike-Breakers

This was a logical extension of the Australian ^doctrine
that fair wages should, if necessary, be compelled by a
legal tribunal, on account of the national importance of
a high standard of living. Such a doctrine, when it is
confirmed by a legal tribunal, almost involves the prohibi-
tion of the right of workmen to strike, and, in any case,
demands in justice that contests between workmen and
employers should be fought to the end without extraneous
aid to either side. Consequently there has been a con-
sensus of opinion in AustraUa, that to permit employers
to import labour under contract, when an industrial
dispute was in progress or contemplation, with a view to
coercing their Australian workmen, was contrary to
AustraUan ideas and interests. Pinkerton*s "strike

^ These provisions only applied to manual labourers. Skilled
workmen or domestic servants were always outside the Act,
and required no permit.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

breakers'* have achieved too evil a notoriety in the
United States to justify Australians in opening the gates
of the Commonwealth to such a class. The Minister
therefore has always assumed the right to refuse a pemut
to any contract inmiigrant whose presence was required
to assist employers in a dispute with their workmen. In
this case and when the conditions of the contract are
unfair according to the Australian standard, — ^and in no
other, — ^it was intended that the Minister should have the
power to refuse a permit for the immigration of manual
labourers under contract.

Neither assurances nor practice satisfied Australian
anti-nationalists. There stood the letter of the law to
be cited to Australia's prejudice by every ill-wisher,
" It was plain," they said, " that the measure was designed
to protect Australian workmen against the competition of
new-comers.** And thus arose one of the many praradoxes
of the Antipodes, viz., that British sentiment was
aggrieved by what in its essence was an attempt on the
part of Australia to prevent British workmen being made
the victims of an unfair bargain, through ignorance of
Australian conditions. This misunderstanding was in-
flamed by a ridiculous story of " six hatters ** — (why is
something of the ludicrous associated with the occupation
of a hatter ?) — ^wko " were not allowed to land in
Australia," which has made the tour of the world* and
cost AustraUa an incalculable loss in the weakening of
her credit and the discouragement of settlers. It is
enough to say that the story, in so far as it had any
meaning, was a partisan invention for election purposes,
and that no " six hatters,** nor any white persons what-
soever have ever been prevented from landing in Australia

• ^ The writer heard the story in Athens in July, 1908, when it
was advanced by a member of the Greek Parliament as a reason
why the stream of Greek Emigration could not be diverted
from America to Australia.

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THE SIX HATTERS

and making their home there since the Commonwealth has
been estabUshed. * Yet the " six hatters " incident and
the mythical accretions to it have probably done Australia
as much injury as the drought itself. To this day the
behef is widespread that British subjects were not allowed
to land in AustraUa ; and only last year an Australian
Senator wrote to the Times that the law of the Common-
wealth forbade the entry of contract labour and cited in
proof these famous " six hatters."

Ambiguity Removed

In 1905 Parhament removed the last pretext for
misrepresenting the Austrahan Immigration pohcy by
passing an Act which expressed in plain words what had
previously rested on an understanding. The new Act
provides in plain terms (No. 199, 1905, sect. 4) : " Every
contract immigrant [i.e., immigrant under contract to
perform manual labour], may land in the Commonwealth
if the terms of the contract are approved by the Minister."
And the Minister can only refuse his approval, if the

^ Six hatters left England under a contract to a Sydney
manufacturer, before the Immigration Restriction Act became
law. The Royal Assent was given to this measure while they
were on the water, and on their arrival at Sydney their " per-
mit " was demanded. The manufacturer ^t once, with his solici-
tor, visited the Attorney-General of New South Wales, and was
officially informed that the men being skilled workmen did not
come within the Act. Two courses were open :^-either to apply
to a State Judge for a Habeas Corpus, or to telegraph to Mel-
bourne to the Minister for a permit. Possibly, because it was
Saturday, nothing was done. The newspapers, who were looking
for a stick with which to beat the Barton Government, took the
matter up next day ; and then the whole world rang with the
woes of ^e " six hatters who were not allowed to land " ; and
the new hat factory monopolised Australian attention. A permit
could have been obtained from Melbourne in a few hours. But
no business man could be expected to put a premature end to
so good an advertisement, and the permit was not presented
to the Custom Officer until the following Wednesday. In the
meantime the six men had been walking about Sydney without
restriction, but sleeping on board.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

contract is made '* in contemplation of or with a view
of affecting an industrial dispute," or if " the remunera-
tion and other terms and conditions of employment are
as advantageous to the contract inmiigrant as those
current for workers of the same class at the place where
the contract is to be performed." If the contract immi-
grant is not a British subject, the Minister must also be
satisfied that '^ there is difficulty in the employer's
obtaining within the Conunonwealth a worker of at least
equal skill and abiUty." This last provision is designed
to keep in check the influx of those European races whose
standard of Uving is below the average, and whose invasion
of the United States has been a cause of many industrial
evils. In practice, Europeans are freely admitted.
Spaniards, Austrians, and Italians have entered under
contract to work in the Queensland sugar-cane fields.
The total number of contract immigrants who entered
Australia in 1907 was 972. During the five years, 1902-7,
267,159 persons of all nationalities entered Australia
without being subjected to any test. Fifty persons during
the same period were admitted after having passed the
dictation test and 1,143 (all persons of colour) were
excluded. Among those who were admitted were 6,250
Chinese, who were supposed to have previously acquired
an AustraUan domicile, and about 2,500 Japanese,
Malays, Phihppinos, and other Asiatics either return-
ing to Austndia or pa3dng it a visit. For by an
arrangement made during the tenure of office of the
Labour Party visitors or students from Japan or China
are freely admitted to the Commonwealtli upon the
production of proper credentials from their respective
Governments.

These figures should dispose once for all of the idea
that the Australian law discourages inunigration. Such
a statement never was true, and since 1905 it has been
demonstrably false.

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VENTENTE CORDIALE

State-aided Immigration

One difficulty in the way of Immigration on a large
scale is the unwillingness of the States to co-operate with
the Commonwealth. By the Constitution the National
Government is given the control of Immigration, but the
States retain the ownership and control of the lands, so
that unless the two authorities arrive at an understanding,
it would be impossible to settle the immigrants as they
arrived. Three States, Queensland, Western Australia,
and New South Wales give assisted passages from London
or Liverpool to selected emigrants, and Western Australia
also offers free grants of 160 acres. Assisted immigrants
are met upon arrival by Government officers, who make
every effort to secure them emplo)anent. The cost of a
passage is about ;f3, but the conditions of assistance vary.
Information can be obtained from the Agents-General
whose addresses are given in the Appendix.

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CHAPTER V

INDUSTRIAL UFE. DIVISION I

Thb Eight Hours' Day — ^Early Closing— Victorian Efforts^
The New South Wales Act of 1900 — ^Legislation in otiier
States — ^Factory and Shop Legislation — General Industrial
Legislation — ^A Paradox explained.

The impulse to legislative efforts on behalf of the poorer
or weaker sections of society, having been considered in
the earlier chapters, and the misapprehension of the
Australian attitude having, it is hoped, been removed,
the more distinctive features of industrial and social life
within the Commonwealth must now be explained. There
is no standard by which Australia would rather be judged^
nor any which would place her on a higher levd.

The first requisites to any ameUoration in the condition
of a dass, are money for the means of self-improvement,
and leisure to make use of it. Consequently, Austra-
Uan efforts have been directed from the first to main-
taining a higher wage-rate and shortening the hours of
labour —

Eight Hours' Work, Eight Hours' Play,

Eight Hours for Rest and Eight " bob " a Day,i

which was the motto of the Eight Hour movement,
condenses many sound arguments in its doggerel anti-
theses. The limitation of the hours of labour, which
was in point of time the first achievement of organised
Labour is the cardinal point of Australian industrialism.

The Eight Hours* Day

The demand for an Eight Hours' Day, which was first
put forward at Sydney in 1855 by the operatives in the
building trade, was soon conceded by the force of popular
opinion, which recognised that the dimatic conditions
justified a shorter day. This idea, indeed, became so
firmly fixed and the limitation of the hours of labour

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LABOUR CONDITIONS

was so folly justified by its practical results, that eight
hours came to be gradually established as the standard
day in all the organised trades, without being afiirmed
by legislation. Legislation was, however, required in
order to extend this boon to the unorganised trades.
Even in Australia the individual workman proved unable
to protect himself under a system of free contract ;
and operatives who belonged to no Trade Union were
unable, for nearly thirty years, to participate in the
benefit of shorter hours which public opinion had already
recognised as the Australian standard. A Royal Com-
mission, appointed by the Government of Victoria, in
consequence of an exposure of the conditions of factory
life by the Melbourne Age, reported that some men worked
for eighteen hours a day. Other evils of the old world
had been reproduced, such as bad sanitation, filthy
surroundings, low wages, and sweating. The reason for
this state of things was the inabihty of the workmen to
combine, owing to the small numbers in each industry
and the scattered buildings in which they worked. It is
very noticeable that even under these circumstances
the Victorian Parliament, while it legislated against the
other abuses, made no attempt to shorten the hours for
male operatives, though the hours for women and children
had been fixed at forty-eight per week in 1873, and in 1874
the hours of miners had been reduced to the same number.
The confidence in pubhc opinion was not completely
justified, although the graver scandals of previous years
were not repeated. In 1893 the age limit for children was
raised to thirteen and women and boys under sixteen were
forbidden to work for more than ten hours in any one day
or after nine o'clock at night. Still no mention was made
of the hours of men's labour.

All legislative recognition of Eight Hours as a general
standard day has been indirect. Both the Wages Boards
in Victoria (1896) and South Australia (1900) and the

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Industrial Arbitration Courts in New South Wales (1901)
and Western Australia (1900) have assumed the existence
of this standard in fixing the wages of labour, and have
applied it in all their awards, except where it was mani-
festly unsuitable. By means of these agencies ahnost all
manual workers in Australia who are engaged in the
manufacture, transport, or handling of goods ; all
maritime labour ; all operatives in the building trades
and all miners, are now paid overtime for any work
beyond eight hours, just as a barrister is paid a
" Refresher ** under similar circumstances.

Early Closing

The good results which followed from the adoption of
Eight Hours as the standard day for manual workers
prompted many attempts to extend the boon to the
unorganised, and therefore ill-paid, class of shop assist-
ants. None of these attempts achieved more than a
partial success until the Government of New South Wales,
in 1900, boldly enacted the closing of all shops of certain
specified classes at a fixed hour without permitting any
exceptions, and refused to give power to any authority
to suspend the operation of tiie Act. Probably no
politick experiment which Australia has made deserves
more careful study or contains more instructive lessons
to other countries.

Victorian Efforts

The earliest attempt at Early Closing was made by
Victoria in 1885, by an Act which directed the closing
of shops in towns — except those which dealt in food and
perishable products — at seven o*clock on five evenings
a week and at ten p.m. on Saturda}^. This well-inten-
tioned measure was left, however, to be administered by
the Municipal Councils, who applied it with varying
degrees of laxity. In border streets which separated two

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EARLY CLOSING

municipalities, shops on the one side might be closed and
those upon the other open. The Act accordingly fell
into disrepute, and few municipahties appUed it. In
1900 a new attempt was made upon difierent lines.
Instead of closing the shops, ParUament enacted that the
hours of male employees should not exceed fifty-two per
.week — carters, porters, and night-watchmen being ex-
cepted. This measure was supplementary to, and not
in substitution for the previous Act. But the shop
assistants benefited very Uttle, because the Municipalities
were still entitled to refuse to put in force the Early
Closing Act, and, no effective means existing of com-
pelling obedience to the Umitation of the hours of labour.
New South Wales solved the problem by a bolder measure.

The New South Wales Act of 1900

The New South Wales Early Closing Act of 1900
avoided both the errors of the Victorian legislation. It
laid down a general rule, which no local authority could
evade, and it provided for the closing of every shop
within the specified classes. Evasion thus became
extremely difficult. Shops were compelled to dose at
six p.m. on four days in the week, at one p.m. on one day,
and at ten p.m. on another day. The particular days
could be selected by a vote of the trades concerned. No
exception was made, as in Victoria, in favour of the
small shopkeeper, although his cause was pleaded very
eloquently by the Free Trade opposition. Experience
had proved that the drastic inclusion of all shops in
the trade without exception is the only effective method
of securing early closing. Cases of hardship, whidi are
easy to imagine, have proved few in practice ; but even
were they more numerous, private interests must give
way. To allow even "the poor widow," who always
figures on these occasions, to keep her small shop open
after hours, would be unfair to the other shops in the

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

neighbourhood. Nor must it be forgotten that many
of these small shops, either already are or might easily
become maintained by wholesale houses or large retailers
as an outlet for their surplus stock. Australian experience
is a warning also against an attempt to secure Early
Closing by an Act which confines itself to limiting the
hours of laboiu:. This might be effective if extraordinary
efforts were made to prevent evasions ; but it is certain
that no defenceless shop-assistant would complain against
over-work, unless he is in a position to enforce obedience
to the law, without fear of dismissal. Even an Early
Qosing Act, which aims directly at its object, is difficult
to enforce, when shop assistants are imorganised and
inspection is almost impossible. Who can give evidence
in any prosecution of what goes on behind the shutters
of a '^ closed " shop, unless he is himelf a witness ? The
difficulty has been met in New South Wales by the Indus-
trial Arbitration Court, whose awards have greatly im-
proved the industrial status of shop assistants. Besides
providing for a minimum wage, — which is the only
effective instrument against sweating — ^the Court has so
regulated the practice of apprenticeship as to destroy the
great abuse of engaging so-called "learners," or "im-
provers ** who, after working for two or three years on a
nominal salary, would be dismissed on any pretext to
make room for other " learners,** who were dismissed in
their turn, so soon as they became entitled to receive
wages. By these protective provisions, shop assistants
have gained a new economic strength, which they are not
Ukely to neglect. Certainly no Act of Parhament of
recent years has been productive of greater and more
direct advantages than that which has given the shop
assistants of New South Wales a weekly half-hohday and
their evenings to themselves.*

^ The five years, 1899-1904, when the Progressive Party
was in power in New South Wales, is one of the most memorable

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AN EIGHT HOURS' DAY

Legislation in Other States

Queensland and South Australia passed Early Closing
Acts upon the New South Wales model in 1900. A
measure on the Victorian Unes has been in force in Western
Australia since 1897 and its provisions were reinforced
in 1902 by the creation of an Industrial Arbitration Court.
Tasmania is the only State in which the hours of labour
in shops are not regulated by some legislative method.
The evils of over-work are not, however, very pronounced
in the island State.

From the foregoing account, it will be seen that the
hours of all urban labour have been Umited throughout
Australia, either by custom or enactment, eight hours
having been accepted as the standard day of manual work,
and all occupations approximating to this. No one in
consequence need lack leisure for enjoyment or self-
improvement ; and all, thanks to the cUmate, can take
their recreation by daylight for nine months in the year.

periods of legislative achievement in the history of Australia.
The following are among the principal measures : — ^The Advances
to Settlers ; Early Closing ; Limitation of Attachment of Wages ;
Regulation of the rise of CoslI Lumpers' Baskets ; Old Age Pensions ;
Provision of Accommodation for Shearers ; Industrial Arbitra-
tion ; Woman's Suffrage ; Coal Mines' Regulation ; Mining on
Private Property ; Prevention of the Influx of Criminals. During
the same period important measures of legal reform were passed
and the Acts relating to Prisons and Neglected Children were
beneficially amended. Sir WilUam Lyne led the party until he
resigned to become a Minister of the Commonwealth (Mar. 28,
1901), when he was succeeded by the late Sir John See, who
resigned from ill-health on June 14, 1904, when the Ministry was
broken up. During this quinquennium the wharves water
frontages of the City of Sydney were resumed, and the Ministry
had to face the difficulties of the drought, which contracted all
sources of public revenue, and of the Boer War which imposed
upon unpractised men the duty of providing and transporting
6,000 soldiers and an equal number of horses.

This record, — ^which will give the reader some idea of the
nature of the duties cast upon an Australian Ministry, — ^is the
more remarkable because the Progressives had antagonised both
the powerful Sydney newspapers.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The universal acquiescence in limitation of the hours
of labour as well as the reasons which induce it are a
marked characteristic of Australia.

Factory and Shop Legislation

The Factories Acts of the Australian States do not
differ in principle from those which are in force in England,
but they are more hmited in their scope, and much more
tender of the rights of property. Only South Australia
has had the courage to define a factory as any room where
anyone is working in an owner's employ ; and no State
has ventured to insist upon the strict provisions to secure
the health and safety of the workmen, which are required
by the English Code. General provisions as to ventilation ;
sanitation ; the safe-guarding of dangerous machinery,
etc., certainly exist, but they are less detailed and
consequently more easily evaded than in Great Britain.
Kor do they extend, as in England, to the processes of
manufacture, but are confined to the building in which
tlfe factory is situated, except that they require that
out-workers shall be registered and a record of
oiltwork kept. The timidity which all Australian
Parhaments have shown in dealing with factories is
probably due to the rudimentary development of Austra-
lian manufactures and the inexperience of Members of
the industrial conditions to which factories give rise. The
difference between the legislation of Australia and Great
Britain on this subject is at present very noticeable.
One of the most important functions of the Industrial
Arbitration Courts and in a less degree of the Wages
Board has been to supply the deficiencies of factory
legislation by the terms of their awards. In this way
a Court frames regulations analogous to those of the
Board of Trade, and by use of the common rule makes
them appUcable throughout the industry in question.

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INDUSTRIAL LEGISLATION

Industrial Arbitration Acts are, then, elastic Factory
Acts, whose clauses can be limited or extended to meet
the conditions of every industry.

Australian Factories Acts generally comprise retail shops.
In all the States shopkeepers are required to provide
proper seating accommodation for their female employees,
and public opinion would not allow this Act to be made
a dead letter by any private recommendation to the shop-
women to avoid using the seats. In Victoria provision
is made for the stamping of furniture, in order to disclose
the manufacturer's name, and whether it has been made
by European or Chinese labour. The Commonwealth
Parliament in 1905 gave an extension to the principle of
this enactment by authorising the use of a '^ Union
Label," i.e., a trade-mark, pecuhar to the manufac*
turer who chose to aflfix it to his goods, to indicate
that they have been made by Trade Unionists working
under Union conditions. This Act has been declared
unconst;itutional.

General Industrial Legislation

Except the tribimals for regulating wages, which will
form the subject of a separate section, the limitation of
the hours of labour, witii the Early Closing Acts which
follow from it, is the only distinctive feature of Austra-
Uan legislation upon industrial matters, which demands
attention. There is evidence, indeed, of great readiness
to meet the wishes of any particular class, such as
shearers or miners, but there is a noticeable lack of
many measures for the protection of the public interest,
with which the British ParUament has been long famiUar.
The shearers, for instance, obtained an Act from the
Parliament of New South Wales in 1901, requiring
squatters to provide them with proper accommodation
during the shearing season, but no State has

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

followed the example of England in regulating,
generally, the construction of cottages in the country or
workmen's dwellings in towns. Again, certain classes of
purchasers of small areas of Crown Lands, have their
homesteads protected against seizure under any legal
process ; but no such exemption is conferred upon the
property of any other person. Wage-earners are a speci-
ally favoured class ; tiiey have a right — ^which is denied
to any other class of creditors — ^to attach monies due to
a contractor who employs them, to satisfy a claim for
wages, without resort to the expensive process of an
action at law. They have also, in some states, a
hen for their wages over the material upon which they
were working, even although this has ceased to be in
their possession and has been sold to a customer. The
mere painter or sculptor would try in vain to assert such
a hen over the pictinre or the statue which he has sold on
credit. At the same time the wages of workmen are
themselves protected against attachment by any process
of law. Many other instances could be given of the
dass or sectional character of much Austrahan legisla-
tion. And yet in the two large States of New South
Wales and Victoria, where such laws as those just men-
tioned hardly excite comment, it has been found impos-
sible to pass a Workmen's Compensation Act, ^ such as has
been the law of England since 1897. The reason is that
a large measure, which afiects the interest of all workmen
has not the earnest backing of any particular class, while
it arouses the unanimous opposition of employers. Aus-
trahan Parhaments, it must be remembered, are more
easily moved than the British by the cry of confiscation
or oppression.

^ This mea3ure has been three times introduced into the
Parliament of New South Wales, once by Mr. Heydon, M.L.C.,
in 1900, and twice by the writer. Each time it had to be aban-
doned. The measure is, in principle, the law of Queensland,
South Australia, and V^estem Australia.

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SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS

A Paradox Explained
There is, however, one group of Australian Acts, —
namely, those which attempt to fix wages and prevent
strikes, — ^which are not only general in their scope, but
of great interest as social experiments.^ The paradox
that a coimtry, which boggles over a Workmen's Com-
pensation Act should be ready to submit the conduct of
every industry to the control of the State, is explic-
able by its economic conditions. Neither employers nor
employed can organise in Australia as effectively as in
England, where the leading industries are confined to
particular districts, and the processes of each are many
and complex. Australia is still in the rudimentary stage
of manufacturing development, in which there is little
demand for specialised skill, and machinery and buildings
can be adapted to a new use with comparative ease. It
is impossible, under such conditions, to estabUsh any of
those Joint Boards of Control, consisting of representa-
tives of workmen and employers, which direct the textile
trades and other standard industries in the North of
England. • The directions of these Boards have all the
effect of a legal decree, because every employer in the
trade belongs to the Employers* Federation and every
workman in it is a Unionist. " Freedom of Contract **
in these industries is unknown ; and membership of a
Union or Federation is an essential condition to the
right of either workman or employer to engage in any of
them. But that which in England can be effected by

^ The French, Swiss, United States and British Governments
have each sent representatives to Australia to study these
measures. Switzerland and Austria have adopted them in a
modified form.

* Many instances are given of the methods of these Joint
Boards in Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb's "History of Trade
Unionism." Sometimes they sit in daily session adjusting every
difficulty as it arises and regulating the conduct of the industry
in detail. In other cases they settle a " log " at weekly or
fortnightly meetings.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

economic compulsion, can only be effected in Australia
by legal compulsion. The object in both countries is the
same, — namely to secure the stability of every industry
by perfecting the organisation of both employers and
employed ; but the methods are necessarily different.
Australia must resort to legal tribunals, while England
can rely on voluntary combination. The next division,
which discusses the Wages Boards of Victoria and South
Australia, and the Industrial Arbitration Courts of New
South Wales and Western Australia, will illustrate this
difference.

Division II

Wages Boards — Industrial Courts — CoUcctive Bargaining —
Industrial Unions — Industrial Agreements — ^The Determina-
tion of Disputes— Conciliation — ^Preference to Unionists —
Membership of Unions — ^Tlie Court and its Powers — ^Thc
Common Rule — Prohibiting of Strikes and Lock-outs —
Underlying Principles — ^The Act in Operation — Is it One-
sided ? — ^A New Measure — ^Wages Boards and Courts Com-
pared — ^EfEect on Trade Unionism — ^The Scope of the Acts —
Note to Chapter.

Australia has adopted two distinct methods of regulating
industry, with a view to securing a high rate of wages
and preventing strikes and lock-outs — ^the indirect
method of Wages Boards, which is in force in Victoria
and South Australia, and the direct method of Industrial
Arbitration Courts which was adopted later by New
South Wales and Western Australia. Each rests upon a
different principle and must be discussed apart.

Wages Boards

The Maritime Strike of 1890, ^ although it failed of its
immediate purpose, stirred the dry bones of many indus-
trial problems. And when it was followed three years
later by a strike of shearers, which brought Queensland

1 See above, p. 60.

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WAGES BOARDS

to ih» verge of dvil war and was only suppressed by
military force, many minds were directed towards the
discovery of some less barbarous method of settling
industrial disputes. The outlook was particularly dis-
quieting in Victoria, on account of her dependence upon
manufactures. That colony accordingly took the first
step.

Wages Boards

The storm-centres were the four industries of clothing,
furniture-making, bread-making, and butchering, in
which the conditions of labour were notoriously bad
and sweating was prevalent. Parliament accordingly,
in 1896, empowered the Governor in Council to appoint
four Boards, one for each of these industries, to consist
of from four to ten members, half elected by the employers
and half by the employees, and also a chairman, in the
event of any Board not agreeing upon the nomination
of some outside person. Except tiie Chairman, who must
not be connected with the industry, all the members
must have practical experience. Each Board was
empowered to fix the minimum daily wage, the rates for
piecework, and the number of " improvers *' ^ in the
particular industry for which it was appointed. The
determination of the Board took legal effect as the rule
of the industry, and was enforced by the Inspector of
Factories who was given all necessary power for this pur-
pose. The effect of these Boards in improving the con-
dition of labour was inmiediately apparent. Wages in
1896 had reached their lowest point and men worked in
many trades, notably in the clothing factories and bakeries,
under conditions which shocked the pubUc when they
became known. Bakers' wages were at once raised from

^ The Victorian Wages Boards have no power to determine
the number of apprentices. Apprentices for less than three
years are reckoned as " Improvers."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

32s. 6d. to 41s. 3d. per week ; wages in the clothing
trade from 20s. to 26s. 6d. ; and in the furniture trade,
which had been depressed by Chinese competition, from
29s. Id. to 45s. lOd. per week. The declaration of a
minimum wage had also a most beneficial consequence
in that it put an end immediately to sweating. Employers
found it unprofitable to employ out-workers and took
them instead into factories where they were paid piece-
rates. The effect on women's wages in this industry
was extraordinary. In 1896, according to Mr. Knibbs,
4,164 females received less than 20s. a week, the average
being 8s. 8d., and worked more than twelve hours a day.
The Board for the clothing trade fixed a minimum wage
of 16s. a week, and limited the hours to forty-eight.
" It was,** sa3rs the same authority, " almost a revolution."

Such results justified an extension of the Wages Board
principle. Consequently the scope of the original Act
was extended in 1900 and again in 1907 and at the pre-
sent time a Wages Board can be appointed for almost
every trade, process and business. Members of the Board
are no longer elected, but appointed by the Governor.*
In 1907 a Court of Appeal, consisting of a Supreme Court
Judge, who has power to call in two assessors, was estab-
lished in order to review the determinations of the Wages
Boards. Four appeals have been heard, in three of which
the decision of the Board was varied. On June 30,
1908, there were in existence fifty-five special Wages
Boards, whose determinations affected over 51,500
persons.

South Australia adopted the Wages Board system in*
1900, but it did not become operative until 1904. Since

^ This change was made on account of the difficulty of com-
piling an electoral roU of persons entitled to vote. One-fifth of
either employers or employees may still demand the election of
a substitute for any nominee of the Governor, except in tiie
furniture trade, where elections are entirely forbidden on account
of the preponderance of Chinese.

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INDUSTRIAL COURTS

1906 it has been worked upon practically the same lines
as in Victoria. Eight Boards are now in existence.
New South Wales and Western Australia, following the
example of New Zealand, have preferred the system of
Industrial Arbitration Courts.

Industrial Courts

The first Act of ParUament which brought the parties
to an industrial dispute before a Court of Law, and
made them subject to its Order as in any other legal
process, was passed in New Zealand on August 31, 1894,
at the instance of Mr. Pember Reeves.

This date marks the beginning of a new era in
dviUsation.

In 1899 the Attorney-General of New South Wales in
the " Progressive " Ministry * introduced into the Assembly
a measure upon the same lines, * but of wider scope
and more drastic. It would be to no purpose to examine
in detail the differences between this measure, of which
many provisions were adopted by the New Zealand Parlia-
ment in 1900, and the original or existing New Zealand
Acts. The credit for the original idea is with Mr. Reeves. •
Its extension to the more complex conditions of New
South Wales necessarily required some new methods
and machinery. The objects aimed at were the same
in both countries, namely the encouragement of collective
bargaining, and the compulsory reference of industrial

^ See above, p. 292.

* A similar measure was introduced later into the West
Australian Parliament which became law in 1900. The N.S.W.
BiU was rejected once by the Legislative Council. The Attorney-
General then resigned his seat in the Assembly, and was appointed
to the Council to pilot through the measure which became law
in 1901.

* Mr. C. C. Kingston proposed a somewhat similar measure
in the South Australian Parliament in 1890, but did not proceed
with it until 1894. This, however, was so limited in scope and
carried out the main idea so imperfectly that it cannot deprive
Mr. Reeves of the title to originality.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

disputes to the adjudication of a legal tribunal. In New
South Wales, where the Act excited very bitter party
feeling, pubUc attention has been persistently directed
to the second of these objects, almost to the exclusion
of the first. ^ It will be desirable, therefore, to begin the
enquiry into the New South Wales Act by an explana-
tion of its provisions for the encouragement of collective
bargaining.

Collective Bargaining

While the Act was under discussion, the decision of the
House of Lords had not been given in the TaflE Vale case ;
and it was generally believed that Trade Unions were in
the anomalous position of exercising collective action
without legal collective responsibility. In order to
appreciate this properly and to understand the object
of the Industrial Arbitration Acts it must be remembered
that, at Common Law, Trade Unions were illegal and
their members liable to be indicted for conspiracy, as
being combinations in restraint of trade. The full right
to combine for trade purposes has been gradually conferred
by statute both in England and Australia ; but a Trade
Union has, in all probabiUty,* still no power to enter

^ e,g,, Mr. Aves, who was sent by the Board of Trade to
Australia in 1907-8 to report upon the Australian Labour Legisla-
tion, has ignored this portion of the Industrial Arbitration Act.
The fnreamble of the New Zealand Act thus expresses its objects :
" to encourage the formation of industrial unions and associations
and to facilitate the settlement of industrial disputes by concilia-
tion and arbitration." That of the N.S.W. Act is in these
terms : " to provide for the registration and incorporation of
industrial unions and the makmg and enforcing of industrial
agreements ; to constitute a court of arbitration for the hearing
and determination of industrial disputes, or matters referred to
it ; to define the jurisdiction, powers, and procedure of such
court ; to provide for the enforcement of its awards and orders ;
and for purposes consequent on or incidental to those objects/*

* Recent decisions have left the law so unsettied that no
lawyer would venture to describe the " status of a Trade Union "
with any certainty.

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THE TAFF VALE CASE

into contracts and it cannot sue its members for arrears
of subscriptions. Trade Unions, indeed, have always
objected to full legal incorporation, in the belief, which
was general before the decision of the Tafi Vale case,
that, as the law stood, their funds could not be seized
in execution, or the Union be held liable for the Tort of
any of its servants or directors. ^ Out of regard to these
considerations the Industrial Arbitration Act only gave
Trades Unions a hmited incorporation. They were required
to register as ** Industrial Unions," under rules which
prescribed certain conditions of management and pro-
vided for the accumulation of corporate funds. But the
funds of a Trade Union might be kept distinct from those
of an Industrial Union, and only the latter were liable
to legal process, and even that Uability could only attach
under the Arbitration Act.* These were accepted by
the Trade Union leaders as sufficient safeguards against
the risks of contractual powers.

Industrial Unions

Tbe Act accordingly provided, in its first part, that
Trade Unions, when registered as Industrial Unions,
should be able to enter into contracts upon the security
of the corporate funds of the Industrial Union. This
necessarily involved the further grant of power to an
Industrial Union, to sue its members for arrears of sub-
scriptions, as a Joint Stock Company can sue its
shareholders for calls. Further, it was provided that
employees could only set the Court in motion by the

^ By recent legislation (1906) Trade Unions in England are
expressly placed above the law in this respect ; and no pecuniary
responsibility can attach to them for any injury which they may
do to any person, either as a body or through their servants.
This is not the law in any Australian State.

' Section 7 of the Act provided that nothing in the Act should
render an Industrial Union liable to be sued, except in respect of
the obligations which the Act itself imposed.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

deliberate act of an Industrial Union, and through this
body as party.^

llie Act also provided for the establishment of Indus-
trial Unions of employers, which were also subject to
regulations intended to secure their responsibility and
continuous existence. These Industrial Unions, whether
of employers or of employees were the units of the Act,
which only recognised individuals for the purpose of
enforcing penalties. The essential purpose of the measure
was the organisation of industry into two efficient, power-
ful, and responsible bodies of employers on the one side,
and employees upon the other. This, it was thought,
would give a new stability to industrial operations,
while it was also in harmony with the tendency to associate
in some form of corporate union, which, in the belief of
the framer of the measure, is the true law of human
progress.

Industrial Agreements

The Industrial Unions so formed were empowered to
enter into " industrial agreements." These might relate
to any "industrial matter,"" and might be operative

^ A single employer, on the other hand, if he employed a suffi-
cient number of men (fifty) to entitle him to registration as an
Industrial Union of Employers, was at liberty to move the Court.

* The definition of " industrial matters " gives the key to the
operations of the Act. " Industrial dispute " means dispute
in relation to industrial matters arising between an employer or
industrial union of employers on the one part, and an industrial
union of employees, or trade union, or branch on the other part,
and includes any dispute arising out of an industrial agreement.

" Industrial matters " means matters or things affecting or
relating to work done, or to be done, or the privileges, rights,
or duties of employers or employees in any industry, not involving
questions which are or may be the subject of proceedings for
an indictable offence ; and, without limiting the general nature
of the above definition, includes all or any matters relating to :

(a) the wages, allowances, or remuneration of any persons
employed, or to be employed in any industry, or the prices
paid, or to be paid therein, in respect of such employment ;

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INDUSTRIAL AGREEMENTS

for two years with the option of renewal for the same or
a less period. It was beheved that these provisions
would enable employers to make exact calculations of
the cost of new undertakings, and secure industries
against disturbance for a fixed period. By this means
many occasions for dispute would be removed and the
work of the Court appreciably tightened.

It was accordingly provided that "an industrial
agreement,** when registered, could be enforced by the
Court as if it were an award, and for some time, under
this provision, the terms of an agreement arrived at
between the representatives of employers and employees,
were declared by the Court to be the " common rule **
of the industry, and enforced upon all who were engaged
in it. The High Court of Australia has, however, held
(1906) that the words of the Act do not carry out this
intention and that an industrial agreement cannot be
enforced by the Court, unless it has been arrived at after
the parties have initiated a dispute. Before this decision
had been given, sixty-five industrial agreements had been
made and registered, representing more than 1,100
employers and 28,700 employees, or nearly one-third of
the total of 85,000 employees who are members of Indus-
trial Unions. Many of these agreements had been
renewed or varied by subsequent agreements and notice
to terminate had been given in ten cases only. The funds
of the contracting Unions were security for the obser-
vance of these agreements by both parties and gave a

(6) the hours of employment, sex, age, qualification, or status
of employees, and the mode, terms, and conditions of
employment ;

(c) the employment of children or young persons, or of any
person or persons, or class of persons, in any industry, or
the diamissal of or refusal to employ any particular person
or persons, or class of persons therein ;

(^ any established custom or usage of any industry, either
generally or in any particular locality ;

{e) the interpretation of an industrial agreement."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

valuable assurance of industrial stability during their
currency.

Except that Industrial Unions are not formed on the
same basis in the two measures, the parts of the New
Zealand and New South Wales Acts, which deal with
collective bargaining, are essentially similar.
The Determination of Disputes

In dealing with industrial disputes the New South
Wales Act differs from the New Zealand in two important
points : — It makes no provision for a preliminary hearing
before a Board of ConciUation, but requires the dispute
to be taken at once before the Court ; and, secondly, it
adopts the Trade Union as the industrial unit.
Voluntary Conciliation

Provisions for voluntary conciliation in industrial
disputes have never proved successful in New South
Wales. A temporary Act passed in 1892 by Sir George
Dibbs for establishing a Council of Arbitration and Con-
ciliation under the direction of the State, expired in 1896
without having been put into force, despite the exertions
of the officials who were charged with its administration.
An Act passed in 1899 by Mr. Reid gave a Minister the
powers of the Board of Trade to make enquiries and
appoint arbitrators, but conferred no power of com-
pelling the attendance of parties or enforcing awards.
This Act was, however, left unrepealed, and is still in
existence. Another reason for the omission of the Con-
ciUation Boards was the conflicting evidence as to their
value in New Zealand, where the losing party invariably
appealed to the Court. *

^ It was also alleged that the Boards encouraged and pro-
tracted litigation in order to draw fees. On the other hand, there
was evidence that in some cases the Boards effected friendly com-
promise, and it was claimed that in every case they straightened
out the issues. Under the present law, a party has the option
of beginning proceedings before a Conciliation Board or going
direct to the Court.

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THE INDUSTRIAL UNIT

The rejection by New Zealand of the Trade Union as
an industrial uniti and its selection by New South Wales
were due to the different economic conditions of the two
countries. Trade Unionism in New Zealand had not
acquired sufficient strength to be relied upon as the
unit of organisation. Labour interests in that colony
were dispersed among several small towns, separated
by the sea and often in rivalry. In New South Wales,
upon the other hand, industries were on a larger scale,
and those engaged in them had greater cohesion. There
was also risk, if any other unit had been adopted, of
exposing employers to being harassed by litigation with
persons without means and having no responsibility
towards others. The selection of Trade Unions had the
further advantage that these bodies were already in
existence and possessed large funds. It gave rise, however,
to a new difficulty.

Preference to Unionists

Plainly Traces Unions would decline a new responsi-
bility for costs, damages and penalties, unless they
received some compensating advantages. It was neces-
sary, too, that these should be the privileges of Unionists,
and not shared by men who would not submit themselves
to the restraints and incur the cost of organisation. The
difficulty was intended to be met by empowering the
Court to direct employers to employ Trade Unionists
in preference to non-unionists. It was hoped that this
Preference Clause would stimulate the organisation of
industries by offering a new inducement to become a
member of the Trade Union. At first these expectations
were fully realised. The Court made free use of its powers
to order preference, notably in the case of the Broken
Hill miners, and the number of Trade Unionists increased

^ Under the New Zealand Act any association oi more than
seven persons can form an Industrial Union.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

from 59,500 in 1902 to 85,000 at the end of 1905. The
increase was then checked by legal decisions, which so
hampered the Comt in the exercise of its powers, that the
preference clause became inoperative, and is now only
applied when both parties would have consented to it.
"The only principle which I can discover (governing
the discretion of the Court to grant preference,) ** said the
Judge of the Court in a recent case, " is that as far as
possible the same results must be given in the award
as would have been arrived at by the parties themselves/'

Membership of Unions

The privileges, which it was intended to confer by the
Act upon Trade Unionists, made it necessary to devise
precautions against their societies becoming dose corpora-
tions or unduly restricting the supply of labour. It was
accordingly provided that every Trade Union, before
registration as an Industrial Union, should submit its rules
to the Registrar, who was required to see that they
contained the provisions prescribed by the Act for its
proper administration and for making membership reason-
ably open. The Registrar is empowered to cancel the
registration.

The machinery of the measure may now be described.

The Court and its Powers

The Court consists of a President and two Members,
appointed by the Governor for a term of three years,
and irremovable except upon an address by both Houses.
The President must be a Judge of the Supreme Court,
although a Judge of the District Court may be appointed
temporarily. The Members are appointed on the
recommendations respectively of Industrial Unions of
Employers, and Industrial Unions of Employees. In
the first draft of the measure it was proposed that the
two members of the Court should be appointed for each

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PROCEDURE

dispute as having technical or practical knowledge,
but it was thought better, after taking the opinions of
leading men among employers and Unionists, to constitute
a permanent Court, and empower it to call in aid assessors
when required. The Court has jurisdiction to hear and
determine industrial disputes, which are defined to be .
disputes in relation to industrial matters (see p. 304 note)
and to make orders and awards in pursuance of such
hearing and determination. An industrial dispute can
be referred by (1) An Industrial Union of Employers ;
(2) An Industrial Union of Employees ; (3) An individual
employer who employs not less than fifty men ; (4) By
the Registrar, if any of the parties to it is not an Industrial
Union. The cases are heard orally in open Court, and the
President has power to send for and examine the books
of any party under oath of secrecy. The Court has the
usual powers of a Court as to compelling the attendance
and enforcing the testimony of witnesses. If the case is
trivial the Court may dismiss it, but in other cases it
must come to a determination or give an award. In order
to enforce its awards the Court may fix penalties for
breaches, which can be recovered in a Court of Summary
Jurisdiction, grant injunctions, or order cancellation of
registration. The award may also fix a minimum rate
of wages, and a provision may be made for a tribunal
appointed by the Court to fix a lower rate in the case of
persons unable to earn the prescribed minimum. It
may also, as we have seen, contain a provision for granting
preference to Unionists. The penalties may be imposed
either upon an individual or an Industrial Union. Other
provisions, which it would be tedious to enumerate, give
the Court full power over its procedure, which is made
as elastic as is consistent with regularity, and confer upon
it every necessary power to ascertain the facts in dispute
and to enforce its order. One provision, however, requires
special notice, — viz., the device of " The Common Rule."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The Common Rule

The Common Rule was first used in the New South
Wales Act for extending an award of the Court, with a
view to ensuring uniformity of conditions in the industry
affected. Without some such device the Act would
work injustice to the employer, who, in obedience to an
award, gave better conditions of labour than his com-
petitors. In New Zealand, the Court, before making
its award, summons before it all persons who are likely
to be affected, — ^an impossible proceeding in a more
populous community. The New South Wales Act pro-
ceeds upon another principle. Assuming that any
determination of the Court is pHmd facie just, it puts the
burden of impugning it upon the persons affected by it,
who must inform themselves of its terms at their own
risk, and be assumed to accept them, if they raise no
objections. The Act accordingly empowers the Court
to declare in an award that "any practice, regulation,
rule, custom, term of employment, condition of employ-
ment or deaUng whatsoever in relation to an industrial
matter shall be a * Common Rule ' of an industry
affected by the proceedings,** and the Court may give
directions within what limits of area and subject to what
conditions and exceptions the Common Rule shall be
appUed. The Common Rule is binding upon all persons
in the industry as if they had been parties to the suit in
which it was awarded. Any person is at liberty at any
time to show cause why he should be exempted, and this
exemption will be granted if it is justified by the
applicant*s exceptional circumstances.

Prohibition of Strikes and Lock-outs

The reference of industrial disputes to a legal tribunal
necessarily involves the prohibition of any other mode of
settlement. Consequently the Act provides that it shall

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STRIKES

be a misdemeanour to strike or to lock out, or aid in or
instigate to a strike or lock-out.

{a) Before a reasonable time has elapsed for a reference
to the Court of the matters in dispute, or

(b) Pending the proceedings in the Court in relation
to an individual dispute.

A strike is defined as **the cessation of work by a
body of employees, acting in combination, done as a
means of enforcing compUance with demands made by
them and other employees or employers.'*

The penalty under this section is a fine not exceeding
£1,000 or imprisonment for not more than two months.
Every case under it comes before a jury. Only two
prosecutions have occurred. In one the defendant was
fined. The other resulted in an acquittal.

There is risk lest further details should extend this
chapter to disproportionate length. The working of the
Act has still to be considered and its methods and principle
compared with those of the Victorian Wage Boards.
To this end the preceding pages may be briefly summarised.

Principles of the Act

The Arbitration Act has a double aim : — (1) To en-
courage collective bargaining ; (2) To determine industrial
disputes. It rests upon Trade Unionism and works
through it in seeking both these aims. It is compulsory
in two senses : — (1) In that it compels the parties to an
industrial dispute to submit their differences to a hearing
in open Court, and therefore makes it a misdemeanour
to seek redress through a strike. (2) In that it enforces
the observance of certain industrial rules, and makes
this a condition of engaging in an industry. It does not
however (nor was it ever so intended), either compel an
employer to keep his business running or a workman
to go to work. It can compel the observance of the
terms of an award but it cannot force the acceptance of

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

the award on either side. This is no disparagement of
the utility of an Industrial Court. The mere enquiry
before it gives time for reflection, and informs public
opinion, which is the final arbiter in these matters ;
while the knowledge that the conditions of an employ-
ment have been settled by an impartial Court pre-
disposes both parties to the acceptance of an award.
Diplomacy is not to be blamed because it does not
prevent war. And, just as differences arise between
nations, which can only be determined by the arbitra-
ment of the sword, so there will be disputes between
employers and employed which no Court can settle.

The Act in Operation

Professor Bryce has observed that the questions
which come before the Supreme Court of the United
States are often of mixed law and poUtics, on which
Judges of different bents of mind can quite conscientiously
arrive at opposite conclusions. This is Ukely to be true
in a special degree of the interpretation of an Act, which
impinges at many points on the Common Law rights of
individuals. Speaking generally, while the Supreme
Court of New Zealand has been sympathetic towards the
Industrial Arbitration Act of that colony, the Supreme
Court of New South Wales, and, in a less degree, the High
Court of Australia, have defeated the intentions of the
New South Wales Parliament on several important points
and rendered portions of the Act unworkable. No
lawyer would quarrel with these decisions. It was
the duty of the Courts to interpret the Act : it is for
ParUament to see to its amendment.

It is inevitable that the working of any novel measure
should disclose mistakes and flaws. Mr. Reeves' first
measure was amended five times during the first seven
years of its existence, namely in 1895, 1896, 1898, 1900,
and 1901. The New South Wales measure, which was

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IMPORTANT DECISIONS

avowedly experimental and therefore limited in its
operation to seven years, was left unamended by the
Ministers^ who in Opposition had fought against its
enactment. Yet the legal decisions, which defeated its
purpose, were plainly such as required to be corrected by
amending legislation.

The most important of these decisions were the
following —

(1) That no part of an industrial agreement could be

made a " Conunon Rule," unless the parties had
arrived at the agreement in the course of litigation.
(High Court of Australia.)

(2) That the Court has no power to embody in the order

for preference to Unionists a direction that an
employer requiring labour should, whenever
reasonably practicable, notify the Secretary of
the Employees' Union of the labour required.
(Supreme Court and High Court.)

(3) That the Court has no jurisdiction to determine

a friendly appUcation by an industrial union of
employees to have the conditions of employment
in an industry regulated, unless these have pre-
viously been made the subject of a demand on the
employers and ah industrial dispute has arisen.
(High Court of Austraha.)

The case as to preference (number two of the above)
would almost certainly have been decided the other
way by the Supreme Court of New Zealand, which, by
a decision given in 1896, had held that it was part of
the inherent power of a Court, established to determine
disputes about '' industrial matters,'' to grant preference
to Unionists, since the refusal to work with non-unionists

^ The " Progressives " who passed the Act had been succeeded
by the " Liberals " in 1904, before final decisions had been given
on the most material points.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

was a principal cause of these disputes. " Not to have
given this implied power to the Court," said one of the
New Zealand Judges, "would be to play the play of
* Hamlet ' leaving out the part of Hamlet.** ^

It requires no legal training to perceive that the com-
bined effect of these decisions was a serious departure
from the original purposes of the Act. Yet even under
this severe handicap the measure has worked.

The clause permitting preference to Unionists has been
the chief object of attack. Yet no instance has been
cited of its causing hardship, and it has been the means
of securing an adjustment of industrial conditions, which
was satisfactory to both sides, in a number of important
industries and notably in the large silver mining industry
at Broken Hill. It is a striking proof of the exaggerated
character of the alarm which this clause has given, that
Preference was already conceded by employers several
years before the Act was passed in the important trades
of building, printing and engineering, and that in thirty-
three out of the sixty-five industrial agreements registered
under the Act preference has been granted by mutual
consent, while it has been denied in only tiiree. In
twenty-nine it was not mentioned.

The success of the Act in encouraging collective
bargaining and strengthening Trade Unionism has been
already mentioned. Has it been equally successful in
preventing strikes ?

Certainly there have been no "strikes" within the
meaning of the definition of that term in the Act,*
although two prosecutions have taken place for instiga-
tion to such strikes. There have however been occa-
sional cessations of work by small bodies of men which in

^ The New Zealand decisions were familiar to the framers of
the Act, and it was expected that they would be foUowed, just
as the frameis of the Australian Constitution expected that, in
interpreting it, the Privy Council would follow American decisions.

* See above, p. 311.

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popular parlance are caUed strikes, and during the
last year of its existence, when the utihty of the Act had
been diminished in the ways already mentioned, these
cessations of work extended to the two large bodies of
Newcastle coal miners and Sydney wharf labourers. In
the former case the breach of the law was almost justified
by its result. The Newcastle miners had been waiting
for six years for the hearing of their case, which, owing
to its complexity and magnitude, was continually post-
poned. During all that time they submitted to con-
ditions which they beUeved unfair, and — ^having been
previously the most unruly body of men — set an example
to the whole colony of patience and forbearance. When
at last they struck, the Ministry, which had done its best
to hamper the organisation of the Industrial Court,
immediately passed an Act of Parhament to constitute
a special Court for the Newcastle district, which had
been pronused four years previously by their prede-
cessors in ofl&ce. The strike of the wharf labourers was
wholly inexcusable. It was settled, after lasting a fortnight,
by the efforts of the leaders of the Labour Party. The
shearers also on one occasion refused to leave their
homes to go shearing, but as they were under no engage-
ment and broke no contract, no stretch of language could
call such action a strike. In one other case, some
coal-miners refused to accept an award, and laid down
their tools at the expiry of the current fortnight of their
employment. In this they were as plainly within their
right, — ^since theirs was a fortnightly engagement, —
as the colliery proprietor would have been in closing his
mine at the expiration of the same period, if the terms of
the award had seemed to him unjust. The only strikes
or lock-outs which the Act declares illegal are those which
occur before or during the hearing of a dispute by the
Court, Indeed the Act expressly provides that nothing
in it ^' shall prohibit the suspension or discontinuance of

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any industry or the working of any person therein for
any other good cause."

Is IT One-sided ?

It would be erroneous to conclude from these cases of
disobedience that the award of the Court " cannot be
enforced against the workmen, while it can against the
employer.*' Both in New Zealand and New South Wales
the orders of the Arbitration Court are obeyed as fre-
quently, and from the same law-abiding sense, as the
orders of any other Court. ^ There is however this much
justification for the error : — that from the nature of the
case the employer has generally more at stake than the
employees. This is not alwajrs the case. In a highly-
skilled trade, for instance, such as engineering, the em-
ployees might be even less willing than the employer
to reject an award. The difficulty of obtaining otiier
employment might be as potent a restraining force as
the fear of losing capital, but it must be admitted that,
in the majority of cases, there is an inequality of risk.
In fact, except in the few cases mentioned, no Trades
Union has refused obedience to an award ; and though
capitalists have grumbled, as Englishmen alwa)^ will, the
industries of New South Wales and Western AustraUa
have shown a steady growth both in output and the
amount of capital invested, which furnishes at least a
negative proof that employers are not unfairly treated
and that capital is not being " driven from the country .'•
Even during the depression caused in New South Wales by
the unprecedented drought (1901-4), the industries
affected by the Arbitration Act showed a steady expan-
sion ; while no manufacturer or other person has ever
adduced any evidence to the Court that an award has

^ This was so in New Zealand, even when an award not only
rejected the men's demand for an increase but reduced wages by
Is. a week. There was much grumbling, but no strike.

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worked harshly, although the request for complaints of
this nature has been repeatedly and pubUdy made with
the promise of redress. Certainly during no other seven
years' period has the progress of New South Wales been
greater or the industrial conditions more stable. In
previous years the Uttle splutterings of disorder, chiefly
by boys and unorganised workmen, which have been
magnified into strikes by opponents of arbitration, would
have passed unnoticed. They at no time were other than
local and temporary disturbances, and in every instance
were condemned and restrained by the responsible repre-
sentatives of labour. Indeed the indirect influence of the
Act in creating a public opinion opposed to strikes is not
the least of the advantages it has ccmferred upon AustraUa.
In previous dajrs the soUdarity of Trade Unicmists
extended and intensified many strikes which would have
been comparatively innocuous if left to themselves. Since
the Act the whole influence of Trade Unionism is thrown
into the balance against a strike — ^a spectacle never before
witnessed in any State of the Commonwealth. This,
as the Sydney correspondent of the Morning Post^ has
observed, " has been a most potent element in the pres-
sm-e placed upon the men to obey the Act. . . . The Act
and the Court taken together must be credited with
exercising a new and effective control over pubUc opinion
at large, which has paralysed the active assistance of all
other Unions in the State and throughout Australia. Not
a finger is being lifted on behalf of the strikers,* not a
penny is being voted for their sustenance, not a single
speech has been made in their behalf by any Labour leader
in or out of poUtics." In other words, the Trade Unionsi
by accepting the Arbitration Act, voluntarily abandoned

^ Morning Post, Mar. 17, 1905.

* This referred to the strike of some " wheelers " — ^boys in a
coal mine, — ^which threw the whole mine out of work. These
boys belonged to no Union.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

their most effective weapon, the S3mipathetic strike.
This fact ought never to be foigotten in considering
proposals to amend or repeal the measure.

A New Measure

As has been stated, the original Act expired in June,
1908. The party then in power had alwajrs opposed
compulsory arbitration, and declared an intention at
the General Election (1907) of abolishing the Court and
substituting Wages Boards. It is a noteworthy tribute
to the success of the Act, under all difficulties, that the
Ministry, in spite of powerful support from the Press,
was prevented by public opinion from carrying this
proposal into execution. ^^ Those who had come to
curse, remained to pray.'* The new Act accepted the
principle of compulsory arbitration to its fullest extent,
but divided the powers of the Court between two tribu-
nals. Boards corresponding to the Wages Boards of
Victoria or the Conciliation Boards of New Zealand,
may be established for each trade, with power to make
a determination which regulates the conduct of the industry
affected ; but an appeal is allowed to the Court as to
rates of wages and hours of labour. The enforcement
of the awards of these Boards is also entrusted to the
Court. Neither Court nor Board can order that prefer-
ence be given to Unionists, and the Trade Union is no
longer the industrial unit. Sufficient time has not
elapsed to judge of this curious measure. At present
Trade Unions are declining to accept responsibilities
without privileges and are not registering under the Act.
One serious strike (of tramway employees) has already
occurred (August, 1908). Something however has been
gained by the general recognition that the pubUc has an
interest in industrial disputes as well as the parties con-
cerned, and that these should be, therefore, controlled

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WAGES BOARDS AND COURTS

by law. Two individuals may fight to a finish in a
l^ck-yard, but the law should prohibit brawling in the
street.

Wages Boards and Courts Compared

The essential difference between the Victorian and New
South Wales systems for regulating industry is that,
while the former recognises individuals, the latter depends
upon and works through Trade Unions. All workers
share aUke in the advantages of Wages Boards, and no
special inducements are offered to Trade Unionists to
submit to the restraints and bear the cost of organisation.
Victorian Trade Unions are in consequence compara-
tively few and weak. The contrast in this respect with
New South Wales is very significant. In 1902 there
were 59,500 Trade Unionists in New South Wales.
Four years later these had increased to 87,000. In
Victoria in the same year (1906) only 8,820 of the working
class were members of a Trade Union, which is a smaller
number than in Queensland, and less by 4,000 than the
number in Western Australia, although this State is still
in the pastoral farming and mining stage, while Victoria
is the most highly developed manufacturing State in the
Commonwealth. There can be only one explanation.
Both New South Wales and Western AustraUa have
Arbitration Acts, which offer their greatest benefits to
Trade Unionists in order to encourage organisation. In
South Australia, which has also adopted Wages Boards,
the number of Unionists was only 5,106 in 1906, while
the number in West AustraUa was 12,031. The tables on
p. 320 are from the " Year Book of the Commonwealth."

The continuous increase in the number of Trade
Unionists in New South Wales and Western Australia,
offers further evidence of the effect of the Industrial
Arbitration Acts, as will be seen from the second table
on p. 320.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Rbgistbred Trade Unions op Ebcployees in Australia
IN 1906

State

No.

Unions

No.

Memoeis

Receipts

Expendi-
ture

Funds

New South Wales
Victoria
Queensland
S. Australia
W. Australia
Tasmania

134

87,435
8,820
8,332
5.106

12,031
33

70,731
6,750
7,159
6,809

31,018
200

63,426
6.486
7,195
5.347

25,948
220

81,122

5,418

5,208

12.926

21,506

343

Commonwealth

266

121,777

122,667

' 108,622

126.523

This table understates the financial resources of the Unions.
Several of the wealthiest, such as the Boiler Makers and Engineers,
axe branches of Unions whose head quarters are in England.

New South Wales

Western Austiialia

Trade Unions

Year

Members

Funds

Year

Membecs

Funds

1903
1904
1905
1906

73,312
79,815
84,893
87.435

63.540
69,409
73.324
81,122

1903
1904
1905
1906

6.999
11,025
11,235
12.031

I
19,250
73.A1\
25,225
26,000

The comparisons are not carried beyond 1906, because
after that year the effect of the legal decisions upon the
New South Wales Act, to which reference has been made,
became generally appreciated*

Judgment on the merits of the two sjrstems as they
affect Trade Unionism, will depend upon the view
which is taken of the value of industrial organisation and
of encouraging the solidarity of labour. The attempt
which has been made in New South Wales (1908) to
graft Wages Boards upon the system of Industrial

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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Courts is regarded as a direct attack upon Trade
Unionism, although it was probably not so intended.

The growth of collective bargaining in New South
Wales has been already^ mentioned and probably will
be regarded as the most beneficial effect of the Arbitra-
tion Act. Wages Boards not only do not lend themselves
to similar agreements, but by weakening Trade Unions,
render them less easy to make.

Both sjrstems, by the use of the minimum wage, have
put an end to sweating.

Each sjrstem tends, too, to preserve industrial peace
by offering an alternative remedy to industrial war.
But Industrial Courts, " owing to the greater thoroughness
of their investigations, have probably a greater educational
influence upon pubUc opinion, which is the final arbiter
in industrial conflicts. The procedure of a Court is also
better adapted to elicit evidence.

On the other hand, a Wages Board may have some
superiority over an Industrial Court in that its members
have a practical knowledge of the matters involved.
But against this must be set the very real advantage of
a judicial training. No Judge of the Supreme Court
would find much difficulty in understanding the technical
processes of any trade which seem to the untrained
mind greater mysteries than they are, and at least he
starts on the enquiry accustomed to weigh evidence and
having in his favour the presumption of impartiality.
Whereas the Chairman of the Board is too often inclined,

* See above, p. 302.

* According to a decision of the Supreme Court of New Zealand,
the. wage awarded by the Court becomes payable as a statutory
debt, so that an employee who receives less than the prescribed
amount can sue for the balance at any time within the Statute
of Limitations. It was then held that a workman could not divest
himself by any conduct or agreement, of his statutory right to be
paid the whole amount awarded by the Court. Such a decision
manifestly makes it useless for an employer to attempt any
evasion of the minimum wage direction.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

layman fashion, to cut knots by ** splitting the difference."
The constitution of a Wages Board is, indeed, its weakest
point. Two members on each side are appointed to be
advocates, so that the final decision rests usually with
the Chairman, in some cases, when the Chairman has
been a man of exceptional judgment, the decisions of
Boards have given satisfaction to all parties ; but, in
others, they have been manifestly compromises. In
fact, the success of a Wages Board in Victoria depends
entirely on the Chairman. And on this account, in com-
paring a Board with the Court, it must not be forgotten
that the President of the Court can at any time call in
assessors and that the members' three years' tenure of
office is likely to develop judicial faculties.

The Scope of the Act

It is urged against the Arbitration Court that, instead
of confining itsdf to the determination of disputes, it has
become a general regulator of industry. Wages Boards
are open to the same charge. Indeed it is impossible
either to settle a dispute or to fix wages without taking
into consideration every condition of employment. Thus
in spite of themselves both the Courts and the Boards are
forced to extend their enquiries, and to provide in their
awards for the conduct in detail of the industry affected.
Only those can think it could be otherwise, who cannot
in imagination picture either Court or Board at work.
There is however this difference between the two
methods, — ^that while a Wages Board only deals with
one industry, the Court, in making an award, can take
into account all industries which are related to each
other. This not only allows the same grades of labour
in various industries to be co-ordinated, but it prevents
injustice to any one of a group of allied industries. The
lack of uniformity in the decisions of the Wages Board
is another weakness of the sjrstem.

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REGULATION OF WAGES

It is said that no system for regulating wages will be
successful in a falling market. That during the period
of the Australasian experiments wages have been upon
the up-grade is certainly true, and must be allowed for
in judging their value ; but those who have had experi-
ence in administering the Wages Boards and Arbitration
Courts, are not prepared to accept the statement that
either system will break down, when economic conditions
change. Certainly the longer either continues in exist-
ence, the less Hkely is failure. At present, in the writer's
beUef , the system would break down in New South Wales,
if bad times recurred, but not in Victoria. This is because
in the former State the Arbitration Act has been made the
object of such bitter party attack and so much misrepre-
sented that the Court does not command the same
pubUc confidence as is felt in Victoria in the Wages
Boards. In New Zealand, on the contrary, the Court
is firmly established and would probably be equally
effectual, in bad, as in good times to secure industrial
peace. So it is in Western Australia and so, some day,
it will be in New South Wales.

NOTE TO CHAPTER

Even as these pages are going through the press, the authors
of Wages Boards in New South Wales are abandoning their
ofbpring. An amending measure has becsn introduced into
Parliament, which enacts that if the President of a Board be a
Supreme or District Court Judge, the decision of that Board
shall be final. In all other cases an appeal lies to the Industrial
Court. The effect wiU be that every Board will have a lawyer
as Chairman. The members of a Board are not to be more than
three or four, representing employers and employed. This Board
is empowered to " regulate aU the conditions of any industry,*'
and its determinations are enforced by penalties. The term
Common Rule is not used, but a determination which afEects a
whole industry has the same effect. The Board may also order
that preference be given to Unionists. Other clauses provide
against the consequences of those judicial decisions by which the
operation of the Industrial Arbitration Act was crippled, and
which have already been mentioned. These Courts although

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

they are called Wages BqpMb; do not really difier eitber in
procedure or jurisdictioil Irom tibie indjistrial Court which they
are intended to replace. Their members are. it is true, appointed
ad hoc for each dispute from among persons acquainted with the
industry in question. This was the provision of the first Indus-
trial ArbitTation Bill which was rejected by the Legislative
Council. The present writer, who was responsible for that Bill,
altered it and established instead a permanent Court, in deference
to the expressed wishes of a deputation representing the em-
ployers. The establishment of several Courts is anotiier testi-
mony to the efficiency of the principle of Industrial Arbitration.
In one respect only does the present law differ from the old Arbi-
tration Act. The latter accepted the fact of unionism, and made
a Trade Union the industrial limit. No individual workman
could set the Act in motion. The new measure aUows any twenty
workmen to apply for a Wages Board. In practice, all su^
applications up to the present time have been made by Trade
Unions, but the clause stands as a distinct challenge to Trade
Unionism which the socialist section of the employees are not
slow to take up. If this defiance of the a$Hour propre of organised
labour — (whic^ is also a menace to its Power that may at any time
become real) — ^were struck out of the Act, there would be no
essential difference between the existing law and the older Act.
The truth is that Wages Boards tend inevitably to become courts,
and are efficacious in proportion as recognition is given to tiieir
judicial attributes.

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CHAPTER VI

OLD AGE AND INVALIDITY PENSIONS^

ScHSMBS in Operation — ^Administration — ^A Federal System. —
Invalidity Pensions.

It is in harmony with the general characteristics of
Australian legislation, and particularly with the tenets
of the Labour Party, that the State should pay special
attention to the care of the aged and invalid. Thus,
although no State has accepted the principle of the
English Poor Law, all provide asylums for the aged and
destitute. The care of the insane is also a function of the
States which, under the direction and example of the
late Dr. Norton Manning, of New South Wales, has
been admirably performed. It is, however, in making
provision for the aged that Austraha has led the way. *

Schemes in Operation

Old Age Pension schemes are now in force in New
South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand, the root prin-
ciple of each of these schemes being the supplementation
of income up to a standard which is taken to represent
the actual pecuniary requirements of old age. This
standard is practically the $ame in New South Wales
and New Zealand, but in Victoria it is considerably below
that in the others.

The New Zealand Act dates from 1898, the Victorian
and the New South Wales Acts from 1901.

^ The author desires to acknowledge his indebtedness for
great assistance in the preparation of this Chapter to Mr. T. B.
Clegg.

* The Old Age Pension System of New Zealand is only referred
to here by way of comparison. It will be dealt with more fuUy
in the volume of this series dealing with New Zealand.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The New Zealand measure, which led the way in legis-
lation of this class, has been greatly modified since the
date of its initiation. The original Act provided for the
payment out of Consolidated Revenue of a pension of ^18
per annum or 6s. lid. per week. This has now been
brought abreast of the New South Wales allowance of
£26 per annum, or 10s. per week. The Act has also been
amended in other important respects especially with
regard to administration and machinery for ascertaining
the merits of the cases submitted. Tlie Victorian Act
has also been subjected to very considerable amendment
since it was originally passed. Originally the maximum
rate of pension in that State was fixed at 10s., but by a
subsequent Act this amount was reduced to 8s., and all
claims granted were re-heard and pensions fixed on the
lower basis. Also in that State the children of pensioners
when proved to be able to contribute towards the pension
are compelled to do so. This is an important principle
which distinguishes the Victorian measure from those
in operation in New South Wales and New Zealand.
Finally the Act passed in Victoria in 1903 restricted the
total sum to be paid in pensions annually. The pro-
vision made in this latter respect is to the effect that
unless the total sum payable for pensions will not, during
any financial year, amount to more than £150,000, the
Treasurer shall not without further special appropriation
by Parliament, authorise the issue of pension certificates
covering new pensions. Neither in New South Wales
nor in New Zealand is any similar restriction made as to
the amount of public money that shall be expended in
this direction. Broadly it may be said that, allowing for
differences in details of administrations and modifications
with regard to the amounts of income and accumulated
property that may be held by pensioners, the legislation
in New South Wales and New Zealand is similar in
all essentials, whereas the legislation in Victoria is

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ADMINISTRATION

differentiated by a limitation of the total sum to be
expended in pensions, a lower rate, and the recognition of a
principle that children who are in a position to do so shall
be called upon to maintain or partially maintain their
parents.

Administration

With regard to administration there are some
essential differences.

In New Zealand and in Victoria pension claims are
settled by Stipendiary Magistrates in open Court : in
New South Wales by a sj^tem of District Boards under
the control of a central Board. Pensions are granted in
New South Wales and New Zealand for a period of
twelve months only, and must then be renewed, whereas
in Victoria the pension is granted once for all, though
subject to withdrawal under certain circumstances. Both
in New Zealand and Victoria provision is made for the
State to be recouped out of any estate that may be left
by the deceased pensioner. At present no such provision
is made in New South Wales.

A Federal System
A Federal ^ S3rstem of Old Age Pensions will come into
operation in July, 1909. It is proposed that the maxi-
mum rate shall be 10s. per week ; the qualifying age,
sixty-five years, and the residential qualification, twenty-
five years ; that the Victorian system of investigation
in open court shall be adopted ; that provision shall be
made to compel the husband, wife or children, as the case
may be, if in a position to do so, to contribute to the
amount of the pension ; that the property of a pensioner
at his death should rest in the State, and that the State

^ The law of each State requires the qualifying term of resi*
dence to have been spent entirely within its own boundaries*
so that a man who had lived twenty-four years and eleven months
in N.S.W. would have no right to a pension if he changed his
residence to Victoria.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

should have a preferential daim to recoup itself for
pension payments. The estimated cost of the Federal
system is jf 1,500,000, which it is proposed to provide by
retaining for the use of the Commonwealth all the Customs
and Excise revenue over the net three-fourths, which,
by the Constitution, must be paid to the States. ^ Possi-
bly this source of supply will need to be supplemented
by direct taxation.

Invalidity Pensions

In New South Wales the law with regard to old age
pensions is at present in need of amendment. It was
based on the original New Zealand measure, which has
since been repeatedly amended in order to check abuses
and strengthen the hands of the administrative power.
In New South Wales the measure so far as the grant of
old age pensions is concerned, remains unchanged. It
has, however, been recently amended to extend the
principle of granting State pensions to the aged poor, so
that it may include their grant to all persons over the
age of sixteen years permanently incapacitated by
invahdity or accident for any work.

This Act is essentially a charitable one, and does not,
as in the case of the Old Age Pensions Act, require the
possession by the applicant of certain qualifications of
conduct, and good citizenship, that are necessary in order
to establish the right to a pension under that Act.

The essential factors considered in granting these
pensions are the physical disabiUty of the appUcant,
' his compUance with the residential qualifications imposed
by the Act, and finally the adequacy of his existing means
of subsistence, whether derived from relatives, or from
his personal resources of income or property.

This amendment is without any precedent in the other
Austrahan States, and is looked upon as an interesting
experiment in the domain of charity.

1 See above, p. 243.

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CHAPTER VII

DEFENCE

Bbforb Federation — ^After Federation — ^Inadequacy of the
System — ^The Enemies of Australia — Compulsory Service —
Naval Defence — Conclusion. ...

The over-sea Australian never shared the belief that
the Exhibition of 1851 had sealed the brotherhood of
nations. Nor could he be convinced that the superiority of
Manchester goods and Birmingham hardwares could be
accepted as a guarantee of perpetual peace under condi-
tions of general disarmament. He had formed a different
view of his own future.

Until 1870 the land defence of Australia was undertaken
by the English Army, but even before the recall of British
troops a volunteer force had been enrolled and a beginning
made with elaborate fortifications. Regular forces of
artillery were raised in 1870, and the forces of every State
were gradually augmented and improved until the defence
of Australia passed to the Commonwealth in 1901. At
that time the permanent forces consisted of 115 officers
and 1,323 of other ranks, and comprised also a Staff,
Artillery both field and garrison, Engineers and Signallers,
Army Service and Medical Corps, and other units. In
addition there were 1,365 officers of Militia and Volunteers,
and 24,550 of other ranks. Each State had also the
nucleus of a Naval Force, and torpedo or gun-boats for
naval defence, with an equipment of submarine mines.
The fortifications of Sydney and Melbourne, on which
large sums had been spent, were well-designed, but lacked
a sufficiency of modem guns. In March, 1901, the Defence
departments of the several States were transferred to the
Commonwealth, and in 1903 and 1904 Parliament passed
the Acts which now regulate its naval and military forces.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

After Federation

The first organiser of the Commonwealth's military
forces was Major-General Sir Edward Hutton, K.C.M.G.,
who has described his system in an interesting contribu-
tion to " The Empire and the Century." ^ Its chief
features were —

(1) A Permanent (or Cadre) Force of Regulars,

consisting of the General or Instructional Staff,
a regiment of Artillery, small detachments of
Engineers, Army Service Corps, Ordnance Corps,
and Army Medical Corps, for partially gar-
risoning the naval strategical bases, for main-
tenance of valuable stores and equipment, and
above all, for the instruction of the Militia and
Volunteer Forces during peace and for stiffening
them in times of war.

(2) A Field Force, e.g., MiUtia troops for the purpose

of carrying out active operations in the field
in defence of the Commonwealth as a whcle.
This force consists of six Ught-horse brigades
and three brigades of infantry.

(3) A Garrison Force of Volunteers combined with

MiUtia for the local defence of each State.

The Permanent Force consisted in 1907-8 of 1,329 of all
ranks. There was in addition a small permanent General
and Instructional Staff, consisting of both commissioned
and non-commissioned officers.

The Field Force consists of six brigades of Ught horse
and three brigades of infantry — ^an insufficient number,
but all that could be provided by the money voted. Each
brigade is complete in itself, with the proportion of all
arms and of most administrative departments which are
essential for a mobile force in the field. The number in

1 " The Bond of Military Unity " in " The Empire and the
Century," John Murray, London, 1905.

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A CITIZEN FORCE

1907-8 was 15,445 ofGicers and men. The members of
this force are Mihtia, paid for their attendance at drills
at rates which give £12 a year to each member of- the
infantry and £14 to each horseman. Each unit of the
Field Force has a peace as well as a war establishment.
The peace establishments provide for nearly a full comple-
ment of officers and non-commissioned officers, with
approximately one-half of the rank and file required for
the war estabUshment. The peace cadres by this plan
can be completed upon mobilisation to the requirements
of war without serious difficulty.

The scientific corps, such as Engineers and Medical
Service, are recruited from the classes who discharge
in civil life the functions which they are required to
discharge in war. A Chair of Military Instruction
has been established and endowed in the University
of Sydney.

The Garrison Force consists almost entirely of Volun-
teers. Arms and accoutrements are supplied by the
State, but no pay is given. The present number of the
Volunteers is about 5,500.

The miUtary forces can also be increased in time of
national emergency by drawing upon the members of
Rifle Clubs, who have learnt the rudiments of drill and
proved themselves efficient shots. Their number in the
year 1907-8 was 42,899. There would be a further
reserve of men who have been efficient members of
Cadet Corps during their school daj^. Physical drill
and a S3rstem of mihtary training, in uniform and with
miniature rifles, is a distinctive feature of all the larger
State schools in Australia. Boys are thus early taught
discipUne and the simple obhgation of a citizen to defend
his country.

The S3rstem to be complete, requires training schools
for officers hke West Point (U.S.A.) or Kingston (Canada).
This defect will be remedied before long. Three officers

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THE COMMOKWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

annually are permitted to serve with a regiment or on the
stafi either in India or Great Britain.

The total expenditure on military and naval forces for
the year 1907-8 was £1,297,012, or 6s. 2d. per head of the
poptdation. This represents Is. lOd. per head more than
the expenditure for the same purpose in Canada but is
far below the 27s. a head spent for the same purpose
in Great Britain. The following table from Mr. Knibbs*s
" Conmionwealth Year Book" shows the military
expenditure of various countries —

In £00.000

Country

Per Inhabitant

Army

Navy

Total

s. d.

Great Britain

27-7

31-4

591

Germany

37-3

11-6

490

Italy

4-9

120

Switzerland ..

1-3

7 2

Denmark

•6

•4

8 3

Sweden

2-3

•8

3-2

12 1

United States

21-2

19-7

410

9 9

Canada

—

Australia

•2

1-2

6 2

On the expiry of Sir Edward Hutton's engagement the
post of Commandant was left vacant and the control of
the Forces placed under a Council of Defence to deal with
questions of pohcy and a Military Board to deal with
administration. An ofGicer was appointed under the title
of " Inspector-General of the Forces " to report to and
advise the Mihtary Board. The objects aimed at by this
change were declared to be '' (1) To establish continuity
in defence poUcy ; (2) To maintain a continuous connec-
tion between parliamentary responsibility and the control
and development of the Defence Forces ; (3) To establish
continuity of Administration ; (4) To separate administra-
tion from executive command so as to develop the
independence of district commands, and by giving scope

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AN INADEQUATE SYSTEM

to independent thought and initiative, make practicable
a larger measure of decentralisation and more particularly
to make possible the tdtimate development of a citizen
force ; (5) To maintain a continuous state of efGiciency
on a uniform basis by the supervision of the Inspector-
General of the Forces, who has to report to the Military
Board and Council of Defence upon the efficiency, system,
training, and equipment of the troops, their preparedness
for war, and the state and condition of the defence works/'

Inadequacy of the System

The system above described, while it makes the most
of the existing forces, is plainly inadequate, either to the
immediate requirements of Australian Defence or to the
due performance of her obhgations as a portion of the
British Empire. Nor can Austraha hope for many years
to be able to resist unaided any determined attempt by
a Western or Eastern power, either singly or in combina-
tion, to obtain a footing on the continent. If she is to
keep for future generations the heritage which she now
possesses, either from the Teuton or the Oriental, she must
not only organise her own latent miUtary powers, but she
must do so in alliance with her other partners in the
Empire. "That union is strength is more true now
than ever before. Under modem conditions war assumes
gigantic proportions ; hundreds of thousands are and will
be necessary where thousands or even hundreds have in
past times decided the fate of Empires," writes Sir
Edward Hutton as a warning to the forces he commanded
in South Africa. He at least is under no illusions as
to the lessons of the Boer War. Sixty thousand men can
defend an open country hke the Transvaal, which has
neither capital nor seaports, while twenty times that
number could not win back Sydney or Melbourne from
the Germans if once these ports were opened to them
by a victory in the British Channel.

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The Enemies of Australia

Australia seems at present to mistake her destiny.
•The Sydney BuUeUn^ which voices her national aspira-
tions, is accustoming the public to anticipate a conflict
for Australian territory with China and Japan, forgetful
that China is a jelly-bag and has no sea-power, while
the Japanese are a race of islanders, accustomed to a
seaboard life and spade culture of hillsides, to whom
the flat expanses of the Australian Bush would offer no
attraction. They could not safely hold Australia in
tribute ; and Formosa and other islands nearer home —
to make no mention of Hawaii and the Philippines,
whose owner could not be neutral in an aggressive
war— offer a sufficient outlet for her surplus energies.
There is some want of dignity in this constant appre-
hension of Japan, whose temper is not aggressive and
whose greatest interest is Peace. Her ancient civilisa-
tion is not necessarily inferior to our own, because it is
different; and Japan wotdd put this, and more, to
risk, by an attack upon Australia, whose real danger
threatens from another quarter. Austraha will be
the prize of victory in a war between Germany and
England.

Some deny the imminence of this fratricidal struggle.
How then explain the German Fleet ? That it is needed
to protect her growing commerce ? Then surely her
battleships would be capable of carrying more than a ten
days' supply of coal. Vessels of that Umited range, built
by a nation which owns no coaling stations abroad, must
have some objective near their base, and by a process of
exhaustion it can be made plain that only England can be
aimed at. France can be restrained on land. The
Russian Navy is a negUgible quantity, and no German
apologist could contend that the German Fleet is intended
to protect Kiel against Sweden or Denmark ! England

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THE INVASION OF ENGLAND

alone is left, and it is to her existence that the formidable
German armament is a standing menace.

Nor is it in the power, even of the Kaiser, to check this
belligerent movement. Germany is being impelled to
over-sea expansion by circumstances which are stronger
than any niler. Not only does her commerce require
foreign markets, but she also needs an outlet for her
surplus population. Every year the hive swarms, and
Germans leave the Fatherland to become in one genera-
tion subjects of a foreign power. At one time a dream
was indulged in that Grermans might gain a foothold in
Southern Brazil, where there are already many German
settlers. The United States, however, took alarm, and
through the mouth of Mr. Hay, Secretary of State in the
Cabinet of President McKinley, announced the extension
of the Monroe doctrine to the southern portion of the
American continent. There remains South Africa and
Australia. If England's Fleet be destroyed, or even if it
be turned away so that the German Fleet may have com-
mand of the Channel for forty-eight hours, a German force
could land in England, in sufficient strength to paralyse
her energies, if indeed it could not capture London. If
this be the language of an alarmist it is that of most
soldiers who have made a study of the possibility of an
invasion. Every great mihtary leader, from Julius
Caesar to Moltke, has believed that England can be
invaded. And even the most credulous pacifier would
hardly question this possibility, if the British Fleet were
out of action ! It is possible that the invaders might
never return, but they could strike a fatal blow at the
heart of the Empire. England is too dependent on other
countries for her food suppUes to contemplate with
equanimity a bread riot in London. If the cession of
Australia is not to be demanded as a term of peace, the
duty of Austrahans is plain, namely, that in the first place
they add to the efficient forces of the Empire and,

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

secondly, that they so organise their people that Germany
will sit upon a wasp's nest, if she occupies the country.
To the one end, she shotdd be prepared to land one or
more fully equipped and self-contained miUtary units, at
whatever point the Empire may be threatened, and, to the
other, she must train all her citizens to mihtary service.

Compulsory Service

Fortunately the conscience of the country is thoroughly
aroused. The Australian Defence League, under the
guidance of the Hon. W. M. Hughes, who was Minister for
External Affairs in the Labour Ministry of Mr. Watson,
and Colonel Campbell of the Rifles Section, and through
its organ The Call, has successfully taught the lesson that
Defence is the business not of a government or of a dass,
but of the people and of all the people. Only the remnant
of Free Traders is unconvinced. "There will always
be," as Mr. Roosevelt has observed, " men of a certain
kind to whom trade and property are more sacred than
Ufe and honour." * Some mihtary critics would prefer,
on purely mihtary grounds, a better-trained force of more
moderate dimensions, but this is to ignore the poUtical
value of universal training and impUes an organisation
which is unsuited to Austraha. Mr. Deakin, backed by
the majority of Labour Members, has correctly voiced
pubUc sentiment in formulating a scheme of a National

^ " To men of a certain kind, trade and property are more
sacred than life or honour ; of far more consequence than great
thoughts and lofty emotions, which alone make a nation mighty.
They believe, with a faith almost touching in its utter feebloiess^
that the Angel of Peace, draped in a garment of untaxed calico,
has given her final message to men when she has implored them
to devote all their energies to producing oleomargarine at a
quarter of a cent, less per firkin, or to importing woollens for a
naction less than they can be made at home. These solemn
prattlers strive after an ideal in which they shall happily unite
the imagination of a greengrocer with the heart of a Bengali
Babu ! ''

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A COMPULSORY SYSTEM

Qtusen Army as an int^al part of Australian policy,
" in the acceptance of which," writes Colonel Repington,
the military correspondent of the Times,^ " Englishmen
place their hopes not only for the mihtary redemption of
AustraUa, but for that of the British Empire as a whole."
The scheme which was outlined by Mr. Deakin in the
House of Representatives on December 13th, 1907, has
now (Oct., 1908) been formulated in a Bill by Mr. Ewing,
the Commonwealth Minister of Defence. The cardinal
provision of this far-reaching measure is that " all male
inhabitants of Austraha (except those who are exempted
by reason of physical incapacity) who have resided there
for six months and are British subjects, shall be liable
to be trained to military service, as follows : (a) From
12 to 18 years of age in cadet corps ; {b) from 18 to 26
years of age in the National Guard. Cadets are required
to give a minimum service of fifty-two drills of one hour
each, and four whole da3rs, or their equivalent. On
entering the National Guard a cadet must give at least
eighteen days' service during the year for three years and
at least seven da)^ for five years. The eighteen days'
training is to be in camp. Citizens who are allotted to the
spedaUst arms are to be trained for twenty-eight whole
days during each of the first five years in their service
with the National Guard. If at the end of the eight years'
period throughout which service in the National Guard

^ In a letter to The Call, re-published in The Times of July 4,
1908. " All honour to Mr. Deakin/' the letter continues, " for
his great initiative ; and all honour to Australia if she leads the
British world, and takes a step which wiU not only — as nothing
else can — ^make a White Australia practical politics, but will
also stir the pulse and prompt the imagination of Anglo-Saxons
far and near. It is my firm belief that we shaU all eventually
follow, if you will lead, and that the general adoption of citizen
training will give lasting peace and security to the Empire, wiU
cause credit to revive and trade to flourish, and wiU endow the
names of [your leaders in this movement with great and
imperishable fame."

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

is compulsory, a citizen is not " efficient," he will be called
upon to do service during another year. Employers who
place obstacles in the way of their men performing the
required service can be heavily punished, and anyone
who evades service is indigible for any public appoint-
ment, deprived of his electoral franchise,, and disqualified
from receiving an old age pension. The Governor has, in
addition, the right to call upon all male inhabitants to
serve in time of war. A force of field artillery, Instruction
and Administration Stafik, Army Service, Medical and
Ordnance Staflk, a force of Garrison Artillery, Fortress
Engineers, and Submarine Miners can also be raised,
maintained and organised in permanence. An allowance
based on a guinea a week for a private soldier will be
given to the force during the instructional camps. Other-
wise the service must be rendered gratuitously by every
citizen. Long service undertaken volimtarily will receive
special recognition. Each of the present MiUtia units
will expand to three National Guard units, and the whole of
their number will be absorbed in supplying commissioned
and non-commissioned officers to train the new levies.

Under this scheme Mr. Deakin calculated that 83,000
men would dlvfoys be in training, who would be supple-
mented every year by 30,000 ; and that the same number
would pass annually into the Reserve and be organised
into Rifle Clubs. In the eighth year, he estimated that
200,000 men would be available, fully armed, equipped
and organised for the defence of the Commonwealth.

These proposals have not gone far enough to satisfy the
Australian Defence League. They recognise that the
proposed camp Uf e and healthy rivalry in outdoor military
occupations will improve the physique of the people, and
foster the best national spirit, but they criticise the
adequacy of the means proposed. They urge that the
age limits should be from 22 to 26, in order that everyone
may have an opportunity to get his prehminary training

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NATIONAL TRAINING

in a Senior Cadet Corps. Otherwise, they say, the period
in camp is too short. They also wish that some payment
should be made, however small, during the service in
camp. To provide the necessary money, they propose
that short-dated Treasury Bills should be issued to meet
the non-recurrent charges. And they call attention to a
necessary strengthening of the Junior regiments by a
stiffening of trained men. These and other amendments
may be made when Mr. Dealdn's proposals are embodied
in a BiU, but it is certain that Australian defence will rest
for the future upon the broad basis which he has proposed.
As Colonel Repington writes in The CaU, '* the system
can be improved and perfected as time and means allow,
when it once rests securely on the sound principle of
National Training. ... If you find the standard too
low, you can raise it when you please. We can always
lend you an Inspector of the best modem stamp, who
will come and go ; who will not be mixed up with your
politics and local affairs, but who wiU give you an unbiassed
military opinion for what it is worth and for what you
please to do with it."

Naval Defence

Mr. Deakin's proposals for the Naval Defence of
Australia have been received with more hostility, although
these also are supported by so competent an authority
as Colonel Repington. Their central idea is the gradusd
creation of an Australian Navy, closely linked to that of
the Mother Country in S3mipathy, tradition and training,
but paid for and controlled by the Australian Government.

lib. Deakin proposes to make a beginning with nine
submarines and six sea-going torpedo boat destroyers —
three of the former and two of the latter to be acquired
each year over a period of three years — and gradually to
increase this flotilla until Australia has created for herself
such a defensive power that she will hardly invite

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

attack. If, when that time arrives, Australia is playing
her expected part in world-politics, her force wiU be
increased, until she can assume the offensive which
is the best defence. " But to ensure liberty to such
attack and render the home territory secure, whether
now or eventually, the Australian people must be aroused."
And thus Mr. Deakin's miUtary and naval proposals
stand or fall together. "It is not,'* writes Colonel
Repington, " until the defensive armour of a people is
forged and riveted on at home that they can pass to the
attack and safely transfer the operations of war, and
consequently its terrors and its evils to an enemy's waters
and territory. ... It will be only when her Navy exists
that Australia can pass to the attack in war without help
from home. ... It is by creating this Navy that
Australia will best serve herself and the Empire."

Yet it is a perverted sense of lo3ralty to the Empire
which prompts the chief opposition to the Australian
Navy. The habit of colonial dependence on the Mother
Country has become so ingrained that a section of the
people feels no sense of shame that a country so rich as
Australia should "cadge'* for its defence upon the
over-burdened taxpayer of Great Britain. Nor do these
people reaUse that, even if Austraha paid a larger contri-
bution in money to the British Navy, the time is coming
when it will be no longer possible for England to maintain
an armoured fleet in the Pacific. Colonel Repington
again does well to remind Austrahans through The Call
that "the pressure of foreign naval competition has
compelled England to concentrate her fleets at home.
This enforced concentration of British battle-fleets has
radically altered the situation of Australia in war and has
seriously altered it for the worse." Australia is now
within striking distance of sixteen possible naval bases
belonging to foreign Powers, from any one of which she
might have an enemy at her doors before the British Navy

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A NAVAL DEFENCE

could arrive to her assistance. " When, therefore," says
Colonel Repington again, ''Australians are asked, as
I judge from a speech by Mr. Reid that they are asked,
to be confident that their greatest danger is a raiding
attack by a few unarmed cruisers and a landing by 1,000
men, I think that the enemy is credited with a degree of
forbearance and a capacity for sauntering, on which it
is not safe to count. If I were an Australian I should ask
for the evidence upon which this opinion was founded,
and until I had seen that evidence and tested it I should,
no matter how high the authority from whom it emanated,
regard it as an opinion and nothing more. I should prefer
that the Australian Intelligence Department should study
the question. . . . There is only one measure by which
AustraUa can remain secure and that is by making herself
so strong that the temptation to attack her may be
removed. The best defence of a nation is its power to
attack, and an insular nation cannot attack without a
Naval Force. Consequently it is the duty, as it appears to
be the work, of Australia to create this force, if the naval
power of the Mother Country does not, or may not in the
future, completely cover Australia as with a shield. The
idea that in an Empire of 400 millions of people, occupying
eleven million square miles of territory, the cradle of
sea-power rests exclusively on certain islands, containing
forty-four million people and measuring 122,000 square
miles is not a proposition which can easily be demon-
strated. I should rather say that fifty years hence the
predominance of the British flag in distant seas is not
conceivable unless the self-governing colonies begin at
once to lay the foundations of their future navies."
Australia, under Mr. Deakin, is working for futurity in
this high spirit.

The ofBicers and men of the proposed new force would be
engaged in Australia under the same conditions as in the
Royal Navy, except that when in Australia they would be

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

paid Australian rates of pay. It is hoped that men would
pass from the Royal Navy to serve a term in the Austra-
lian Fleet and that members of this fleet would pass into
other ships of the Navy to complete their training. The
ships would fly the White Ensign and the Commonwealth
flag, and would be part of the Royal Navy in every sense,
except that they would be maintained at the cost of
Australia, and be under the pohtical control of the
Commonwealth Ministry. The Admiralty has raised an
objection to the latter condition, and would place the
fleet under the direction of the Conmiander-in-Chief of
the Australian Station. This is an impossible demand.
"A self-governing conmiunity cannot," as Colonel
Repington says, " be asked to abandon in advance control
of its own funds, or of forces created by such funds."
Mr. Deakin cannot say more than that '* in time of war
AustraUan ships would almost certainly be placed by
the Commonwealth Government under the Admiral
commanding the Eastern squadron."

Lastly there is the question of cost. This is put,
including capital expenditure, at ,£1, 419,000, 3£1,714,000
and £1,605,000 for each of the next three years, and an
annual charge of £1,900,000, which is a small premium
of insurance on the 1,200 miUion pounds which constitute
the wealth of Austraha. It only involves an expenditure
on defence of l-15th of the AustraUan revenue and 1-lOOth
of the income of Australians, as against the l-25th of
revenue and l-31st part of income spent by Great Britain
in the same object. Japan with a revenue of forty-nine
miUions spends one-sixth of it or eight millions on defence.
Australia would have to spend five millions out of income
to equal the expenditure of Japan, and twelve millions
if she would emulate the Mother Country in the drain
upon her revenue. Mr. Deakin's proposals do not,
therefore, make an undue strain upon Australian finance.

Nor must the floating trade of the Commonwealth be

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CONCLUSION

overlooked. This amounts to ^170,000,000 per annum,
and is now protected by the British Navy. Should this
protection be withdrawn, the necessity for a sea-going
fleet will be at once apparent. In the meantime Australia
is meeting the need of the day, if she takes full responsi-
bility for the defence of her ports and dockyards and the
protection of her coastal trade.

The Naval Agreement, which was negotiated in 1887
with the Colonies of Queensland, New South Wales and
Victoria, has outlived its usefulness. The squadron,
towards the up-keep of which the Commonwealth con-
tributes a not larger sum than 3^200,000 per annum, is not
composed of powerful or modem ships, and the pa3mient
is a derogation from the duty which Australia owes to
herself. It will cease when Mr. Deakin's proposals come
into effect.

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APPENDIX I

Routes to Australia
Via the Suez Canal —

The weekly English mail service to Australia is main-
tained by the P. & O. and Orient Lines alternately ; and
by travelling overland to Brindisi or Naples, it is possible
to reduce the voyage from London to Freemantle (the
first Australian port of call) by several days.

Both Lines also embark passengers at Marseilles.

Head Offices —
Thb Peninsular ft Oriental Steam Navigation Co.,
122 LeadenhaU Street,
London, B.C.

The Orient-Royal Mail Line,

(Managers) Messrs. Anderson, Anderson ft Co.,
5 Fenchurch Avenue,
London, B.C.
Fares —

London to—

1st Saloon

2nd Saloon

drd Class
(Orient otUy)

Freemantle . . .

Adelaide

From ;f 65 ;

From £d% ;

From ;fl7 ;

Melbourne ....

. single

single

sin^e

Sydney

£\\2\ return

jf63; return

by connection)

Brisbane

Ftom £%1 \

From £A0 ;

From ;f 18 ;

(by connection)

single

£\\S\ return

£66; return

A somewhat longer route is that lately reorganised by
the B.I.S.N. Co., which, after following the ordinary
course as far as Aden, runs direct to Thursday Island,
from there coasting down to Brisbane under the shelter
of the Great Barrier Reef.

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APPENDIX

The whole voyage occupies about 42 days. This line
is under contract with the Queensland Government for
the carriage of emigrants.

Head Office —

British India Steam Navigation Co.,
9 Throgmorton Avenue,
London, E.C.
Fares —
London to Brisbane —

1st, ;£48 ; single. 3rd, from £i% to ;f 19 ; single.

Vid the Cafe of Good Hope—

This route has of late years seen great developments

and is popular with others than those who merely wish to

avoid the heat of the Red Sea from June to September.

Many of the steamers are unsurpassed for comfort

and the standard throughout is high.

The third-class accommodation is especially worthy
of mention.

Steamship Lines,
Nbw Zbauind Shipping Co., Ltd.,
159 Hereford Street,
Cbristchurch, N.Z.

[London Office —

Messrs. J. B. Westray & Co.,

138 Leadenhall Street, E.C]

Shaw Savill ft Albion Co., Ltd.,
34 Leadenhall Street.
London, E.C.

Each Line sails monthly from London to Hobart (where
passengers for the Australian ports are transhipped), tile
voyage occupying about forty days.

Faires —

1st Saloon

2nd Saloon

3rd Class

London to
Hobart .

Ftom ;f64 ;

single
£i\S\ return

From ffS ;

single
£66; return

From ;fl7 ;
single

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THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

The Abbrdbbn Linb —

Messrs. Geo. Thomson & Co.,

7 Billiter Square, London, E.C.

LuNDs Blub Anchor Line —
3 East India Avenue.
London, E.C.

Monthly sailings from London to Brisbane by each line. No
2nd Saloon passengers taken.

Fares —

London to —

1st Saloon

drd Class

Melbourne . . )

Sydney )

Brisbane

From ;f 52; single
.. ;f90; return

From fJSA ; single
„ £9 A ; return

From;£16; single
From £\1 ; single

Federal Houldbr Shire Lines —

Messrs. Houlder Bros. 8c Co., Ltd.,

146 Leadenhall Street, London, E.C.

Monthly sailings from Liverpool to Brisbane. Occasional
sailings from London. No 2nd Class passengers carried.

Fares —

London to—

1st Saloon

3rd Class

Adelaide

Melbourne . .

Sydney

Brisbane

;f45; single
;f48; single

From ;f 16 ; single
From ;^18 ; single

White Star Line,
Head Office —

Messrs. Ismay, Imrie ft Co.,
Liverpool.

Monthly sailings from Liverpool to Sydney. Only third-class
passengers carried.

Fares —
Liverpool to—

Adelaide ^

Melbourne J From jf 19 — jfSO ; single.

Sydney )

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APPENDIX

Note. — Assisted passages are granted to approved emigrants
from Great Britain and Europe by the States of New South Wales »
Queensland, and Western Australia. Particulars will be sent on
application to the respective Agents-General of these States.

London Representation of the Australian States
The Commonwealth of Australia (a High Commissioner has not
yet been appointed ; in the meantime Captain Muirhed Collins,
R.N., C.M.G., acts as Representative of the Commonwealth).

Offices of the Agents-General —

New South Wales : 123 Cannon Street, E.C.

Victoria : 142 Queen Victoria Street. E.C.

Queensland : 1 Victoria Street, S.W.

South Australia : 28 Bishopsgate Street Within. EC.

Western Australia : 15 Victoria Street, S.W.

Tasmania : 5 Victoria Street, S.W.

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APPENDIX II

Note on Loan Policies

Mr. R. M. Johnston, Government Statistician of Tasmania,
has termed the Loan policy of Australia as " a taking of foreign
capitalists into partnership in Australian development." He
claims that this has been a striking success from the point of view
of all concerned in the joint venture, and points out that, although
English capitalists have provided capital to the amount of
;^0,000,000 for the construction of public works in Australia
between the years 1870 and 1906-7, the net interest burden was
five pence less per head of the population in the latter than in the
former year. He summarises the results of the public borrowings
within the period 1870-1906-7 as follows : —

Population has increased from 1*65 miUions to 4* 19 miUions,
or 2-54 fold.

Total external trade has increased from 36*09 million £ to
114*52 milHon ;£, or 3*17 fold.

The miles of railway line have increased from 994 miles to
14,067 miles, or 14* 15 fold.

The capital invested in the construction and equipment of
railways has increased from 9*82 million £ to 140*20
million £, or 14*31 fold.

The profit on working the railways has increased from 5s. 7d.
per head of the population to dOs. 8d. per head, or 5*44 fold.

And, finally, while the gross interest burden per head of the
population has nominally increased by 288. 4d. per head,
the increase in the profit returned by the railways has been
256. Id. per head, so that the net burden of interest was
5d. per head less in 1906-7 than it was in 1870.

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INDEX

Absbntbss, 104.

Agriculture, Progress in, 146.

Agricultural Company, Australian
102.

Alien Immigration, 275 ; Afghans,
44; Asiatics, 286; British
Subjects, 276 ; Europeans, 286;
Japanese, 275; Kanakas, 44,
45, 185, 277 ; Polynesians, 44.

Alien Immigration Laws, Act of
1901,277,281; Chinese Restric-
tion Act, 281 noU; In Natal,
276; In U.S.A., 275.

Aliens, Dictation Test for, 276.

Angas, G. F., 117.

Ar^ 2; Agricultural, 15, 16;
Compared with other Countries,
12, 13. 15, 16; Fertile, 13,
Habitable, 2; Maritime, 13,
15; States, 2.

Australasia, Meaning of name, 1.

Australian Federalist, the, 166 noU,

Australia. Story of the Nations
Series, 104

Australian Industries Preserva-
tion Act, 269, 270, 271.

Australian Natives Association,
167, 170 note.

AustralianPreferential League,260.

Bakbr, Sir Richard, 194
Banks, Capital of, 158, 159.
Bank Crisis, 159 ; Date and Cause

of, 71 note ; Foreseen by Lord

Jersey, 65.
Banks, Sir Joseph, 99.
Barton, Sir £., 161 note, 165. 166,

169 note, 170.
Beo-keeping, 146.
Berry, Sir Graham, 220.
Bigge. Report on New South

Wales, 102.
Black, George, Leader of Labour

P^trty, 65; Official Report of

Labour Defence Committee, 60,

61.

Blacket, J., 117.

Blaxland, 99.

Board of Trade, 259, 294, 302.

Boundaries, 1.

Bourke, Governor, 101, 105.

Braddon Clause. 9, 238, 260.

Braddon, Sir £., 238; Britton,
Mr., 99 note ; Brougham, Lord,
94 noU

Bryce, Rt. Hon. James, " Ameri-
can Commonwealth," 165, 176,
177, 178 note, 182, 195 noU, 206
216, 217, 218, 273

Buley, E. C, 33, 37„ 312.

Cablb Service, 263, 267.
Campbell, Colonel, 336.
CampbeUtown, Old Settlements

in, 99
Canada, Military Expenditure in,

332; and the Empire, 264;

and Preference, 252 note, 262;

Trade in, 259.
Capital, need for, 102; Subscribed

m England, 158.
Carrington, Earl, 164 note, 170.
Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. J., 249.
Children, Neglected, 80. 289, 293

note.
Churches, Protestant Union of,

162 note.
Clark, A. Inglis, 165, 195, 220.
Clegg, T. B., 325 note.
Climate, 10, 11 ; In Queensland,

278, 279.
Coghlan, T. A., "Australia and

New Zealand," 139, 141, 142,

144, 156, 158, 240 note.
Collins, Judge Advocate, 97.
Colonial Office, 105, 106, 251

noU, 281.
Coloured Labour, Chinese, 280.

295, 300 ; on Ships, 276. See

also AUen Immigration.
Commerce, Oversea, 160. See also

Shipping and]Trade.

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INDEX

Commonwealtfa, London office of,
160 not$, and Appendix. See
also Constttntion and P^lia-
ment.

" Canmonwealth Year Book."
See Knibbs, G. H.

Confeience, First Colonial, 162.
„ Imperial, 265.

Constitution Act, Commonwealtiu
174, 175, 177. 181, 183, 184,
185, 186, 189, 191, 192, 193.

205. 206. 207, 208. 209. 210.
211. 212. 213. 214. 215, 287.

Constitntion, Commonwealth,
compared with that of U.S.A.,
179 noU, 181. 182. 183 nots.

Constitntion, Amendment of, 210 ;
Executive Powers given by,
191, 192, 193. 197, 209 ; Funda-
mental Laws of, 210,211;
Judicial Powers given by, 212.
213. 214. 215; Legislative
Powers given by. 181, 183,
184, 185. 186. 188. 189. 209.
210. 211. 248. 260; Powers in
regard to Money Bills. 205;
Powers in regard to Deadlocks,

206, 207 ; Powers in regard to
Tacking, 208. 209. See also
Parliament, Senate, House of
Representatives, Governor
Geneial, Crown, Court, Fedeial
High.

Contract, Immigrants. 286.

Convention. Federal 164. 165.
167. 168. 174. 204. 205. 206.

Council. Federal. 163 note.
.. Municipal. 47.

Trades and Labour. 60.
63.

Court. Federal Hi^. 175. 212, 213 ;
as Court of Appeal. 213; com-
pared to Courts of Canada, 212 ;
compared to Courts of the State,
212 ; compared with Courts of
U.S.A.. 213. 215. 216; Impor-
tant Decisions of, 176 noU, 183
note, 305, 312, 313; Original
Jurisdiction of. 214. 215 ; Pro-
cedure of. 215; Relations to
Parliament of. 216; Relation
to State Courts. 217.

Court. Supreme of New South
Wales, 312. 313.

350

Crown, Confidence in. 199 ; Influ-
ence of. 197. See also Constitu-
tion. Executive Powers.

Customs. See Tarifi.

Dairying Industry. 145 ; Extent
of. 136.

Dalley. W. B.. 161 naU.

Daw. T. K.. 13. 14.

Deadlocks, methods of dealing
witii. 206, 207. 228. 229. 230.

Deakin. Hon. Alfred. 170, 240.
251. 259. 264. 265. 336. 387,
338. 339, 340. 341. 342. 343.

Debt. PubUc, 156, 243; of the
States. 244 ; Purposes of. 244,
245; compared with those of
European States. 244.

Defence, against Asiatic and Euro-
pean Nations. 334. 335 ; Com-
pulsory Service for. 336. 337.
338. 339; Coundl of, 332;
Cost of, 342, 343 ; Cost com-
pared witii that of Great Britain
332, 342 ; Cost compared with
that of Japan. 342 ; Necessary
Extension of, 333 ; of Empire.
335, 336 ; Organisation of, 830,
331,332,333; Naval, 339. 340.
341. 342 ; Naval agreement of.
1887.343; Royal Conmiiasions
on. 162 naU,

Democracy, character of Austra-
lian. 51.

Dependencies. I.

Derby. Lord. 162 note,

Dibbs, Sir George. 166. 306.

Downer. Sir John. 165.

Drought. Great (1903), 16, 17. 18 ;
Precautions against. 18. 316;
Recovery from. 16.

Durham, Lord. 104.

Early Qosing Act, 290. 291. 292»
293, 295.

Education. Elementary. Attend-
ance. 78. 79 ; Cost. 78 ; Cuxri-
cula. 80. 81 ; Extra Subjects;
81 ; History in each State, 73,
74. 75, 76, 77, 78; Irish
National System. 73; Pay-
ment by Results. 75. 76. 86;
Pupil Teachers. 87. 88, 89;
gion, 85 ; Summary, 84. 85.

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INDBX

EdncatiQa, Ideals of. 90. 91. 184.
.f no powers ci Commoii-

wealth in regard to. 184.
Education. Secondary — Condi-
tions in each State. 81. 82;
Agricultural CoU^es. 82.
Education. Technical. 82. 83.
., Training of Teachers,

84.
Education. University. 82. 83. 84.
Edwards. Major-General, 182 note.
Ei^ Hours' Day. 59. 288, 289.

EUdngton. Dr. J. C. 278.
England, Board of Guardians in.

103; Common lands in. 99.
Epps. W., " Land Systems of

Australia^" 109. 119. 121. 123.
Ewing. Hon. E., 337.
Excise Duties. 272.

Tarifi Act, 273. 277.
Executive Council. Constitution

of. 192, 193 ; Powers of, 193.

194. See also Constitution.
Expenditure. Commonwealth, 237

&9, 240. 241. 242. 243.
Expenditure. Railway. 245.
Ei^orta, 148. 153. 155; Export

of Harvesters, 150 nois, 287;

Exports of Wool 158. 258;

Ejroorts to United Kingdom

and other Countries. 257, 258.

Factoriss. 151. 152.

Factory Legislation. 294. 295.

Farmers. Education of. 135;
Yeoman. HI.

Fanning. 45. 46. 145. 146 ; Lee-
tures on. 136.

Farms, German, 138 ; Inspection
of. 136 ; Model, 135 ; Spanish,
138.

Federal Capital, 169.

Federal Conventions. See Con-
ventions.

Federation, Accomplishment of,
169. 174 ; Functions of Govern-
ment in a, 173, 174. 175;
Principles of, 164. 165, 167. 203,
204. &5. 206, 207. 209, 210;
Trade before. 152. 157; Trade
under. 141. 147.

FertiUty. 12, 13.

Finance in New South Wales, 167.
Financial Crisis in America, 148.
Fitzroy. Sir Charles. 119.
Franchise, 50, 55, 233 ; Women's

SufiErage, 66.
Free Trade. 250. 162; In New

South Wales. 167. 291.
Friendly Societies Act, 133.
Froude, ]. A.. 36. 161 noU.

Gawuer. Governor. 119.

Gipps. Sir George, 106. 107, 108.
110. 111. 120.

Gladstone, Rt Hon. W. E.. 108,
220. 222. 265.

Glenelg. Lord. 105. 123.

Gold. See liineral Production
and Mines.

Govemor-Goieral. 212; Instruc-
tions of. 191. 198; Powers of,
191. 192. 193 noU, 197, 198,
199, 209; Salary of, 192. See
also Constitution.

Govenmient. National, 176. 183.
of Country Districts,
47, 48.

Goyder, Mr. G. W., 121.

Gregory. Professor J. W., 275.
278. 279.

Grey. Lord. 108 ; Land Acts of.
119. 123.

Griffith. Sir Samuel, 165, 220.

Grose. Major. 94, 95. 96. 97.

Harvestbrs. American. 268 ;
Australian. 22, 267 ; Duty on,
271 ; Export of, 267.

Heydon, Mr. M. L. C. 296 noU.

Higgins. Mr. Justice, 170.

Hobart Mwcwry, 170.

House of Representatives, 195,
198, 202. 219. See also Con-
stitution and Pariiament.

Housing. 24. 25.

Hughes. Hon. W. M.. 336.

Hutton. Major-General Sir Edward
K.C.M.G.. 330. 332. 333.

Immigrants. Contract, 282. 286;
"Prohibited." 281; Selection
of. 103.

351

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INDEX

lounigimtioii. Alien, 286; Diffi-
cnltJM of, 289; Incieaae of.
103; Pblicy of. 285. 286;
3Etestriction Act, 281. 282;
State-aided. 287 ; Stoppage of.
104. See also Aliena. Coloured
Lfltbour.

Imports. 153. 155. 156. 157. 159.
&3. 254. 255. 256. 257.

Income Tax, 179 note, 181.

Individualism. Australian. 57.

Industrial Arbitration Act, 66.
306. 307. 308. 309. 310, 311,
312, 315, 317, 319, 323, 324.

Industrial Arbitration Courts, 290,
292 294.

Industrial Unions, 303, 304, 306.

Insurance Companies, Life, 142.

Invalidity Pensions, 325, 228.

Invasion of England, 335.

Inventions, Australian, 22, 267.

Iron Works, 151. See also Min-
erals.

Irrigation. See Rainfall and
Water.

Italy, 148.

JUBILBB of 1897, 168.
Judges, number of, 212, 215;
Salaries of, 215 ; in States, 215.
Justice, Chief, 212.

King, Governor, 98, 99, 106.

Kingsley, Henry, 40.

Kingston, C. C, 220, 301 noU,

Knibbs, G. H., " Commonwealth
Year Book," 139, 146, 147. 151,
153, 154, 158, 240, 249. 254. 255,
256, 257, 261, 300, 320, 332.

Labour Party, 58, 59; B^;in-
nings of, 65, 127 ; on Borrow-
ing, 179 noU, 128; General
Election, 1891, 65 ; Caucus of,
66; Effect on Legislation, 65,
66 ; and Federation, 166 notB ;
171 not$; and Compulsory
Military Service, 71, 336, 337 ;
Machine of, 66 ; in Office, 275,

' 286 ; in Parliament, 166 noU ;
Pledge of, 67 ; Programme of,
68, 179 ; Socialists m, 70, 71 ;
Strikes and, 315, 325 ; Victorian,
130.

LaboorCokxues, 131, 132 ; Defieiice
Committee, 61. 65; Female.
151 ; Indentured English, 282 ;
Ornanised, 288; in New Zeal-
and, 307; on Sheep runs, 42;
in New South Wales. 307;
Settiements,129 ; Unions Feder-
ated, 162 noU; White, in
Northern Queensland, 278, 279.

Land Acts, 126, 138; Advances
to Settiers Acts, 134 ; Amend-
ing Act, 1896, 134 ; Australian
Land Act. 148; Closer Settie-
ment Acts, 128, 130; Crown
Land Acts, 45, 46, 127, 130;
Crown Land Alienation Act,
111, 114, 115; Ciown Lands
Occupation Act, 110; Free
Selection Act, 112, 115; New
South Wales Acts, 116; Land
Act in New Zealand, 137;
Queensland, 116; Land Sales
Act, 106; Land Settlement
Act, 132, 133; South Austra-
lian Acts, 117, 120, 121. 137;
Strangway's Act, 120; Taa-
manian Acts, 116; Victorian
Acts, 116, 130, 137; Waste
Lands Act, 119. 120, 123, 136,
137 ; Acts in Western Austra-
Ua, 117. 124.

Land. Advances to Settiers of,
134. 135 ; Alienated, 138 ; AUot-
ments of, 98 ; Auction Sales of,
100, 105. 116. 137; Boaids.
116; aty. 140; Crown, 101,
103. 105. 296 ; Crown titie to
Waste Lands, 136; Companies.
102; Co-operative Associations
on, 131; Departments, 232.
233 ; Dundas' proposals as to,
95; Locking up tiie, 104;
Leases of, 3 note, 137 ; Military
Settiers on, 94; Orders in
Coundl, 1847, 108, 109, 112;
Political Influences in regard to,
124 ; Price of. 140 ; Purchase
of. 107, 113, 139 ; Report from
CommissionerB of, 106; Phil-
lip's Instructions, 92, 93 ; PhU-
lip's additional Instructions.
93; Division of. in South
Australia, 123 ; Settiement of.
125; Selection in different

352

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INDEX

Land — contd.
States^ 45, 46 ; System of Lord
Grey. 119, 120; Taxes in the
States, 140 noU ; System of
Wakefield for deaUng with. 117,
119; Waste, 106.

Lane, W., 125.

Lang, Governor, 106.

Lawson, Henry, 87. [93a

League, Australian Defence, 336,

Legislation, Character of Austra-
lian, 233; General Powers of
Commonwealth in regard to,
183, 184 ; Industrial, 183 and
note; 293 not$, 295; Limita-
tions on, 211. See also Con-
stitution, Parliament.

Light, Colonel, 118.

Living, cost of, 25, 26.

Loans, Public. See Debt, Public.

Loch, Sir Henry (afterwards Lord),
164.

London Dockers, 62.

Lord Howe Island, 1, 174.

Lowe, Robert (Viscount Sher-
brooke), 106.

Lyne, Sir William, K.C.M.G., 293
noU.

Macdonald, Sir John, 220.
MacmiUan*s Magaane, article '^,

163 note.
Macquarrie, Governor, 98, 99.
MaU Contracts, 136, 276.
Manillas, the, 148.
Manning, Dr. Norton, 325.
Marine Officers' Association, 61.
Marshall, Qiief Justice, 176.
McArthur, Captain, 94, 95, 98,

in.

McKay, J., 267.

McKerrack, Sir T., 220.

Meeting of Premiers at Hobart,
168.

Melbourne Age, the, 289.

Melbourne, Land Speculation in,
126, 127.

Members of Parliament as Dele-
gates, 221 ; compared with
those of U.S.A., 221 ; and their
Constituents, 222, 230, 231.
232; Professions of, 231, 232;
Salaries of, 223, 231.

Mititary Board, 332.

Mill, John Stuart, 250.

Mineral Productions, 12, 13, 149,

160; Gokl, 12, 148, 149, 150.
Mines, 126, 150.

Ministries, Elective, 226/227, 228.
Morning Post, the, 317 noU.
Morris and Ranken, Report on

Lands, 110, 112, 113.
Mountains, 3, 4.

Nationalism in Australia, 20.

National Review, Article on Aus-
tralia in, 170.

Navigation, 185. See also Rivers.

Navy, Royal, Service in, 341, 342.

Navy, Protection of Commerce by,
343

New Caledonia, 184, 185.

New Guinea, 162 note.

New South Wales. See under
subject heading.

New Zealand, 1, 24, 104, 137, 264,
301, 302, 306, 307, 310, 312,
313, 314, 316, 318, 321, 323,
325, 328.

Norfolk Island, 1, 174.

Northern Territoiy, 1.

O'Connor, Mr. Justice, 170.
Okl Age Pensions, 66, 325, 326,
327, 328.

Papua, 1, 242.

Paraguay, New Australia in, 125.

Paramatta, Old Settiements at. 99.

Parker, Sir GilbertJ on Australia,
36, 37, 44, 48.

Parkes, Sir Henry, 57, 65, 74, 75,
162, 163, 164, 166, 167, 170, 220.

Paiiiament, Commonwealth, the
First, 169; Dealings with
American Trusts, 295; Raht-
tions between the Houses of,
203, 208; Functions of. 184;
Place in Constitution of, 212;
Powers of, 183; Powers of
each House of, 205, 206;
Powers with regard to Money
Bills, 205, 206, 208; Parties
in, 225, 226; compared with
State Parliaments, 173 ; Enact-
ment as to Union Labels, 295.

353

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INDEX

Pkriiament, Imperial, 193, 185.

PurliainentB, Australiaii, character
of, 223, 224; compared with
United Kingdoms and U.S.A.,
223, 224, 225.

Parties, names of, 225.

Party Government, 221, 222, 223.

Pastoral Association, 107, 109.

Pastoral Industry. 102. 106, 138,
144.

Putoralists' Unions, 162 note.

Pastures, 12.

Peel, Mr.. 122.

Peel, Sir Robert, 220.

Peru, P., 148.

Petty Sessions, 47.

PhilUp, Governor, 92. 93, 94, 95,
96, 97, 98. 137.

Physical Features. 2.

Pll^nle, Report by Dr. Ashburton
Thompson on. 22.

Police. 47. 48 ; in U.S.A.. 183 note.

Population. 102, 138, 139. 142
and note.

Poor Law Reports, 102.

Portuguese East Africa. 148.

Post and Telegraphs. 172.

Praed, Mrs. Campbell. 40.

Preference to Unionists, 307, 313,
314, 3ia

Preference. Imperial, 249, 251,
252. 253, 258 ; meaning of, 258,
262, 263, 264, 265; value of,
259; Canadian System of , 259 ;
for British Ships, 260 ; Exten-
sions of, 262.

Prison Reform Act, 293 noU.

Privy Council, Appeal to, 213;
Important Decisions of, 172
note, 173 note, 176 note, 314
note; Limits of Right to
Appeal, 214.

Production, 143 note, 145, 146.
148, 152, 153, 160. 277, 278.

Prohibition, 174.

Property, Distribution of, 142.

Protection for Agricultural
Machinery, 272. See also Tariff.

Public Works, Departments of,
232, 233.

QuBBMBLAND. See under subject
Quick, Sir John, 167.

Rabbbno, Professor, " The Com-
mercial P61icy of the United
States." 250 note.

Racing. Horse. 28. 29, 30, 31.

Railways, Construction oi, 188,
189 ; cost of, 244, 245 ; Rates.
186, 187, 188; Trans-contin-
ental, 150.

RainfaU, 4, 5, 15, 16. See
Drought, Water.

Ranken. G., 101. See also Morris
and Ranken.

Reeves, Hon. W. P., 301, 312.

Referendum, 168, 171, 226, 228,
229, 230.

Reid, Rt. Hon. G. H., 166, 168.
171, 208, 238, 251 noU. 306.

Remittance Men, 35.

Repington. Colcmel. 337, 339. 340,
341, 342.

Responsible Government, charac-
teristics of, 194, 195, 196. 219.

Responsibility of Cabinet. Col-
lective, 225.

Revenue, 235, 236, 287, 238, 241.
243.

Rivers, 5, 6, 8. 9, 185, 186.

Robertson, Sir John, 110.

RockefeUer, J., 267. 271.

Rogers. J. D. (Historical Geo-
^y). 99. 106, 107. 111. 129,

Roman Law, 99.
Roosevelt, T., 336.
Royal Assent to Acts of Parlia-
ment, 213.
Rum Trade, 96, 97.

Sambom. Dr.. in Briiish MedietA
Journal, 278, 279.

Savings Banks, 134, 142.

Schools, Private, 81.

Seamen's Union, 61.

Secretariat Imp^ial, 265.

See, Sir John, 225, 293 note.

Senate. 194, 195, 198, 199, 200.
201, 204. 219. See also Con-
stitution Parliament.

Settiement, Limits of, 5. See
also Tfftidi

Shearers' Union, 60, 144 note, 295.

Ship-building, 152.

Shipping. 261 and note, 243. See
also Trade.

354

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INDEX

Socialism in AustraUa, 53, 69, 70.

Social Legislation in Australia
and United Kingdom, 53, 54.

South Australia. See under sub-
ject tities.

Spain, 14&

Stanley, I^rd, 106.

State Enterprise, 52, 53.

States, Characteristics ol Inhabi-
tants of the. 23, 24.

States, Voting Power of the, 207.

Stirling, Captain, 122.

Straits Settiements, 150 note.

Strike, Maritime, 60, 61, 62, 63,
64, 65, 127, 2d8; Shearers',
2da

Strikes. Breakers of, 283; Pre-
vention of, 315; Prohibition
of, 310; Public Opinion on, 318.

Sugar Bounty Act, 277; Pro-
duction of Sugar, 277.

Sydney BuUetin, 70. 246. 334.

Sydney Daily Telegraph, 170 note.

Syme, David. 195.

Taff Vale Case, 302. 303.

Tariff Commission, 267.

Tariffs. 150. 152. 174. 235, 236.

240. 248. 249. 251. 252. 266.

269. 272. See also Preference.
Tasmania. See under subject

titles.
Taxation of Land Values in

N.S.W., 169.
The CaU, 336. 337 noU, 339. 340.
Thompson, Dr. Ashburton. 22.
Times, The, 56. 57. 59. 66. 71.

118. 119. 160. 276. 285. 337.
Trade, 153, 154. 155. 156. 258

and note.
"Trade Unionism. History of."

Sidney and Beatrice Webb. 297

note
TradeUnions. 289, 295, 302. 303,

306. 307. 308. 311, 316. 317,

319. 320. 321. 324.
Tran4>ort by Camels. 44.
Transportation, 103.

Transvaal, 2,

Trusts, American, 266; Austra-
lian manufacture destroyed by,
268; The International Harves-
ter, 267, 271.

Tryon, Admiral, 162 note.

Turner Sir G., 208.

Union, Australian, 20.

United Kingdom. See under sub-

ject titles.
United States of America. See

under subject tities.

Van Diemen's Land Company,

102.
Vegetation. 9, 10.
Victoria. See under subject titles^
Village Communities, 128.
Village Settiements, 99, 130, 132.

Wage. Minimum, 25.

Wages Boards. 289. 294, 298, 299,

300, 311. 318, 819. 820. 321,

322, 323. 324.
Wages, Rtt^ulation of. 290.
Wakefield. £. G., 100. 104. 105,

106. 117. 118. 119. 121. 123. 130.
Water. Artesian, 7. 8; Conserva-
tion. 6. 7; Irrigation. 8. 16,

186 ; Supply of. 186. See also

Rainfall. Kivers.
Watson. Hon. J. C, 275. 336.
Wealth. 141. 143. 160.
Webb. Sidney and Beatrice. 53.

297 note.
Wentworth, W. C. 106.
Western Australia. See under

subject tities.
Western Pacific. 1.
White Australian Policy. 275.

280. 281, 286.
Wine, 134. 148. 152.
Wool. 99. 144. 152, 153, 158. 258.
Workmen's Compensation Act.

296, 297.

Young, Sir Henry. 120.

/TM.'M by Sir It

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spirit or sentiment of the scenes he delineates, and the old-worid
atmosphere which lingered around them has been admiraUy and
accurately reproduced. To the present generation this vofaime
must needs be interesting, but to future generations it will become
invaluable as a permanent witness of what London was like at the
end of the nineteenth century." — BoohseUer,

SEVEN ANGELS OF THE RENASCENCE : The Story of Art from
Cimabue to Claude. By the lato Sir Wtkb Bayuss, F.S.A. {soms-
time Presideni of ths Royal Soci§ty of BrUish Artists), author of
Ths Likeness of Christ Ren Regum, etc., with 40 plato illustrations.
In demy Svo, buckram gilt, gilt ixip, bevelled boards, 10s. 6d. net.
" A book to be read fay all whose interest it concerns if only for
its independence, at times even originality of view, and for its
suggestive method of bringing apparentlv divergent influences upon
Art into, at any rate, poetic hannony.'^ — Graphic.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

MY RECOLLECTIONS. By Princess Cathxriks Radziwill. Cheap
Fourth Edition. In large crown Svo, cloth gilt, gilt top. Ss. net.
Witii photogravure porteait of the author.

" The Princess Radxiwill's RecoUecHons is one of the most charm-
ing and faadnating volumes of the kind ever written in the English
language. She has the wit and style of the French and the romantic
imagination of the Slav. All the pages of this book are interssting."
*^~Rioiew of Reviews,

THE SALT OF ICY UFE. By F. G. Avlalo, F.Z.S. With 50 illus-
trations from photographs. In demy Svo, cloth gUt, gilt top,
7s. 6d. net.

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY, BELLES LETTRES, ETC.

THE RECOLLECTIONS OF A HUMOURIST. Grave and Gay.
the late Artsur A Bbcxst (late Assistant Editor of ** Puttch/') Wii
PhotograTore Portrait. In demy Bvo, cloth gilt, gUt top. 12e. 6d. net.
" The great interest of the book lies in its pictures of certain
aspects of social life (and especially of cnltured Bohemian club life),
which have now passed almost entirely away, and which reproduce
in real life many of the scenes over which everybody has lauded
in the pages of Dickens, Sala, and Thackeray." — Daily Nsws,

NEW ZEALAND REVISITED. Reodlections of tiie Dftyt of 1^
Youth. By The Right Hon. Sir John Eldon Gorst. With
sixteen iUnstrations. In demy Svo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 12s. 6d. net.
" Mature and mellow with the judgment of a wise and far-reaching
career. . . . Full of the fruits of keen observation and mature
judgment. . . . The author's descriptions are bright and stimulat-
ing to the fancy. . . . The volume is charmingly illustrated by
a series of capital photographs and is in every way equipped in a
fashion worthy of its literary and historical importance.'^ — Daily
TsUgrapk.

REMINISCENCES OF MY LIFE. By Sir Charlbs Samtlxy. Id
demy Svo, doth gilt, gilt top, with 15 illustratioDS, 16t. net.

" Mot a trace of the weary veteran is discernible in this enter-
taining volume, to the intrinsic interest of which its author's
perennial yonthfulness of spirit and almost boyish love of fun add
a peculiar and an irresistible charm." — The World.

BELLES LETTRES

THE LETTERS OF PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY. Containing over
450 letters. Collected and edited by Roger Ingpen. With 42
illustrations and two photogravures. In two volumes, large
crown Svo, cloth gilt, fflt top, 25s. net. •

This new collection of Shelley's correspondence contains, with a
few fragments, about 480 letters, that is, considerably three times
as many as have appeared in any one previous collection. These
letters are derived from a large variety of sources ; either from
the owners of the manuscripts, or from books most of which are
out of print, and many are difficult to obtain, as well as from
privately printed pamphlets, newspapers, and magazine articles,
issued either in England or America. Nearly 40 of the letters are
now printed for the first time, and over 50 others contain matter
not hitherto published. The editor has supplied a series of bio-
graphical notes on Shelley's correspondents, and has had an oppor-
tunity of printing some particulars for the first time regarding
Shelley's lesser-known correspondents. The letters are printed in
chronological form and annotated, and the volumes are furnished
with a full index.

The illustrations comprise a collection of portraits of Shelley and
his friends, and views of the places associated vrith him, as well as
facsimiles of his manuscripts.

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PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL UTERATURB

BIOGRAPHY

A HERO OP DONEGAL. A Memoir of Dr. MmiUm Sa^tfa, of
Burtonport By Frederick Douguls How. With portraits and
illnstratioiis. In crown 8vo. doth 2b. 6d. net.

SHIRLEY BROOKS. {See "A Great « Punch' Editor.")

BOSWELL'S JOHNSON. (See •* Ufe of Sannid Johmoo.")

JOHN BUNYAN : His Ufe, Times and Work. By the Rev. Jorar
Browit. B.A., D.D. With portrait and iUustrations by Whympsr.
Cheap edition. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 78. 6d.

" The best life of Jc^n Bunyan."— LUerary World.
{See also Dainty Volume Library, page 9.)

THE CAMBRIDGE APOSTLES. By Mrs. Charles Brookfibld. Witii
twelve fall-page illustrations. Ip demy Svo, doth gilt, gilt topb
21s. net.

" This book — ^not one for the casual reader but one to be loved and
remembered by serious men-— conveys without effort a wonderful
impression of the commanding ability, the sincere and noble ideab.
the loftiness of purpose of the Apostles." — Morning Leader,

THE COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON AND HER CRCLE. By Sarah

Tytler. With photogravure portrait and eight other illustrations.
In demy 8vo, doth gilt, gilt top, 12s. 6d. net.

" In this account of the 'Countess of Huntingdon' and some ol
her distinguished friends and contemporaries. Miss Tytler baa
produced a thoroughly readable book. ... Its chief value lies
perhaps in the picture it gives of life in certain aristocratic circles
in the time of Whitefield and the V/eslejs," -^Westminster Gaeette.

THE UPE OP DANTE. By the late E. H. Pluvptrb, D.D., Dean ol
Wells. Edited by Arthur John Butlbr. In fcap. Svo, lambskin
gilt, 2s. 6d. net. Also in cloth. Is. 6d. net, and paper. Is. net

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BIOGRAPHY

THE HRST GEORGE IN HANOVER AND ENGLAND. By Lbwis
BCELvnxB. In two vols.» demy 8vo, cloth gUt, gilt top, with 18
illustrations, iaclnding two in photogravure, 24s. net.

"Mr. Melville makes history at once tme and entertaining.
It is a piece of real history, and yet as fascinating as any novd.
Mi. Melville brings to his work some of the best powers of a novelist,
the easy narrative, the large sympathy, and dramatic touch — ^bat
he also exercises an indnst^ which brings before us the past as it
really happened/' — Daily Chronicle.

GEORGE POX'S JOURNAL. (See Dainty Volume Ubrary, page 9.)

THE UFE OP PROUDE. By Herbert Paul, M.P. With two photo-
gravure portraits. Second Edition. Revised. In demy 8vo, doth
gilt, gilt top, IGs. net.

" A brilliant piece of Jbiography and vindication by one of the
most accomplished of contemporary men of letters." — Daily News.

BISHOP WALSHAM HOW. A Memoir. By his Son. Frederick
Douglas How. Cheap edition. In crown Svo, cloth gilt, 6b.

" Extremely well done . . . altogether a book which cannot be
read without profit and encouragement." — Guardian.

THE LIFE OP SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. By James Bogwbll.
Newly edited vdth notes by Roger Ingpen. With 568 illustrations,
including 12 photogravure plates fully indexed. In two vols.,
crown 4to, half morocco, 21s. net. (Also in two vols., handsome
doth gilt, 18s. net)

" A singularly complete and attractive edition. The greatest
judgment has been shown in selecting pictures which should illus-
trate Johnson's period, and bring before the reader's eye the actual
features of the men and women among whom he moved. Altogether
the New ' BosweU ' is one which will be certain to secure a fresh
band of admirers for a work which will ever remain one of the
treasures of our literature." — Westminster Gasette.

THELIFEOFTHOMASKEN^Oshop of Bath and Wells. By the late
Very Rev. E. H. Plumftre, D.D., Dean of Wells. With illustra-
tions. Two vols. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 12s. Second Edition
revised.

GEORGE MACDONALD. A Biographical and Critical Ap
By Joseph Johnson. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s.

FRIDTJOF NANSEN. By Jacob B. Bull. A book for the young.
Translated from the Norwegian by the Rev. Mordaunt R.
Barnard, one of the translators of Farthest North. Illustrated. In
crown 8vo, 2s. 6d.

THE LIFE OF NELSON. By Robert Soutbey. In fcap. 8vo, leather
gilt, gilt top, 2i. 6d. net.

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PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE

DANIEL O'CONNELL : HIS EARLY LIFE AND JOURNAL, 1795-
1802. Edited with an introdnction and explanatory notes by
Arthur Houston, LL.D., KC "^^th three lull-page plate
iUnstrationft. In demy 8vo, doth gilt, gilt top, 12s. 6cL net.

" The book seems to me fall of charm* alike for readers well
acquainted with the story of (yCoimell's career, and for those to
whom he is only a more or less vagae figure at a period ol historr
already fading from the common memory. I have read the hook
with great pleasure." — Mr. Justin McCarthy in the Diniiy Graphic,

THE UFE OF SIR ISAAC PITMAN (Inventor of Phonography). By
Alfrbd Bakbr. In demy 8vo, doth gilt, gilt top, with aboat
50 xllnatratioDs, induding photogravure and sted plates, 7s. 6d.

" The book is very well done. It gives a life-like picture of a
strenuous reformer, an original personality, an inventor to whom
every newspaper, every public body, and every great business house
owes an incalculable debt." — CkrisHan World,

" Good reading for all who have studied Phonography, and the
general reader will find plenty to interest him in Uiis study of Sir
Isaac Pitman."— i>af7y News,

WILUAM CONYNGHAM PLUNKET. ByF.D.How. Fourth Baron
Plunket, and sixty-first Archbishop of Dublin. A Memoir. With
two portraits. In demy 8vo, doth gilt, gilt top, 16s.

A GREAT << PUNCH " EDITOR Being the Life, Utters, and Diaries
of Shirley Brooks. By Georgb Somes Lavard. With 8 illustra-
tions and 22 initial letters from PtmcK In demy 8vo, doth gilt,
gilt top, 188. net

"It is singularly accurate, very full, put together in a most
workmanlike way, and full of things which to persons of taste are
delightful and precious. Those who wish to understand the literary
period of which it treats must read iV^BriHsh Weekly.

THE UFE AND WORK OF BISHOP THOROLD. Rochester, 1877-91 ;
Winchester. 1891-95. Prelate of the most noble Order of the
Garter. New and cheap edition. By C. H. Simpkinson, M.A. In
crown 8vo, doth gilt, g^t top. 6b.

JOHN WESLEY. [See Dainty Volume Uhrary.)

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COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES, ETC.
COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES

GREAT ASTRONOMERS. By Sir Robert Baix. lUustrated. In
demy 8vo, cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. net.

THE HEROIC IN MISSIONS. Pioneers in six fields. By the Rev.
A. R. Bockland, M.A. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt. Is. 6d.

MODERN PAINTERS AND THEIR PAINTINGS. By Sarah Tytlbr.
For the use of Schools and Learners in Art. In crown 8vo, quarter
doth gilt, 4s. 6d.

" An excellent introduction to the History of Art." — Daily News,

ICUSICAL COMPOSERS AND THEIR WORKS. By the same Author.
For the use of Schools and Students in Music Revised. In
crown 8vo, quarter cloth gilt, 4s. 6d.

" The best simple handlx)ok on the subject that has yet appeared
in England." — Academy.

THE OLD MASTERS AND THEIR PICTURES. By the same Author.
For the use of Schools and Learners in Art. New and enlarged
edition. In crown Svo, quarter cloth gilt, 4s. 6d.

" Really supplies what has long been a felt want." — British
Quarterly Renew,

NOBLE WOMEN OF OUR TIME. With Portraits. By F. D. How
' In crown Svo, cloth gilt, gilt top, Ss.

PITMAN'S
DAINTY VOLUME LIBRARY

Each in /cap, Buo, limp lambshin gilt, gilt top, with Photogravure
Frontispiece, 2s, 6d. per volume net,

DANTE. THE DIVINA COMMBDIA AND CANZONIERE. Trans-
lated by the late Dbam Plumftrb. With Notes, Studies,
Estimates, and Life. In five volumes.

THE LIFE OF DANTE. By the same author. In one volume.

THE TRAGEDIES OF JESCHYLOS. Translated by Dean Plumptre.
In two volumes.

THE TRAGEDIES OF SOPHOCLES. Translated by Dsan Plumptre.
In two volumes.

BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON. (Abridged.) With an Introduction
by G. K. Chxstbrton. In two volumes.

THE POETRY OF ROBERT BROWNING. By Stopford A. Brooks,
M.A., LL.D. In two volumes.

TENNYSON : HIS ART AND RELATION TO MODERN LIFE. By
Stopford A. Brookb, M.A., LL.D. In two volumes.

JOHN BUNYAN : HIS LIFE. TIMES AND WORK. By Johm'browii,
D.D. In two volumes.

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PITMAN'S CATALOGinS OF GENERAL UTERATURE

THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. By John Bunyan. In one vtdnme.
JOHN WESLEY'S JOURNAL. (Abridged.) With Amkredatioa by the

Rt. Hon. AuGUSTiNB Biiuuax, M.P. In two vohunes.
GEORGE FOX'S JOURNAL. (Abridged.) With Introdnction by W.

Robertson Nzcoll, M.A., LL.D. In two volumes.
NO CROSS^ NO CROWN. By Wuxiam Pbnn. With an Introdnction

by J. Dbans Hilton. In one toL

ECCLESIOLOGY

ROODSCREENS AND ROODLOFTS. By F. Bugh Bond. F.R.I.B.A..
and The Rev. Don Beds Camm , O.S.B. With over 88 foil page
coQotype reproductions, and upwards of 300 other beantifol
illoatratioDs. In demy 4to, handsome cloth gilt; gilt top, 32s. net.

ETHNOLOGY

NATIVE LIFE IN EAST AFRICA. By Professor Karl Wsuu. Trans-
lated from the German with Introdnction and Notes by Aucs
Wbrmxk. With a map and 196 illvstratiaos. In royal 8vo» c&oth
gttt. 12b. ed. net

" Of African lands, of native manners, customs and ideas, this
is the most thorough work we ever remember to have read. The
author spent six months in the Dark Continent, and has collected
in that short time a mass of very valuable information. Throughout,
the book is charmingly and interestingly illustrated. The translator
is to be sincerely congratulated on the result of her task." — Globe.

SERVIA AND THE SERVIANS. By M. Cbxdo Mijatovxch. LaU
Servian Minister at the Court of SL James's, In demy 8vo, doth gilt,
gilt top, 16s. net. With sixteen illustrations.

" The subject is a fascinating one, and the material here brought
together Is Ireth and interesting. . . . M. Ifijatovich gives ns a
charming picture of his own peofue with some gentle critidsm. . . •
It is full of interest, it makes its eflEeet by sheer simpUdty of
narratioD. It should be read by alL"— Mormn^ PosL

FICTION

THE SEPARATIST. By Amon. 6s.

THE HILL OF TROUBLE. By A. (X Bbnson. Stories mediaeval,
mystical, and supernatural. 6b.

THE ISLES OP SUNSET. By A. C. Bbnson. 6s.
BY WHAT AUTHORITY ? By Robbrt Hugh Bbnson. 68.
THE LIGHT INVISIBLE. By Robbrt Hugh Bbnson. 3s. 6d.
RICHARD RAYNAL, SOLITARY. By Robbrt Hugh Bbnson. 3s. 6d.
THE KING'S ACHIEVEMENT. By Robbrt Hugh Bbnson. 6s.
THE QUEEN'S TRAGEDY. By Robbrt Hugh Bbnson. 6s.
THE SENTIMENTAUSTS. By Robbrt Hugh Bbnson. 68.

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FICTION AND HISTORY

A MIRROR OF SHALOTT. By Robbkt Hogh Bbnson. 6s.

LORD OP THE WORLD. By Robbrt Hugh Bbnson. 68.

MY LORD OP ESSEX. The romantic episode of Cadiz. By Francbs
M. Brookfisld. With photogravure frontispiece. 6s«

A PRIAR OBSERVANT. A stirring romance of the times of Afartin
Lather. By Francbs M. Brooxfibld. 6s.

MEN OP THE MOSS-HAGS. By S. R. Crockbtt. lUnstrated. 6s.

WOLPVILLE. By Alfsbd Hbmry Lbwxs. Illustrated. 6s.

WOLPVILLE DAYS. By Altrbd Lbwis. Tales of life in a Western
cattle town. With Introdnction by Robert Barr. 3s. 6d.

THE GOD OF HIS FATHERS. By Jack London. Tales of the
Klondyke. Ss.

THE SON OP THE WOLF. By Jack London. Tales of the Far North.
6s.

A DAUGHTER OF THE SNOWS. By Jack London. 6s.
ANNE OP GREEN GABLES. By L. M. Montqombry. 6s.

" Destined to live as long as ' Alice in Wonderland.* "-eWorld.
* ANNE OF AVONLEA. By the same author. 68.
PRINCESS JOYCE. By Kbxghlby Snowdbn. 6s.

HURRICANE ISLAND. By H. B. Marriott Watson. lUnstrated.
Cheap Edition. Ss. 6d.

THE GLORY OP THE CONQUERED. The Story of a Great Love. By
Susan Glaspbll. 6s.

HISTORY

A HUNDRED YEARS OP IRISH HISTORY. By R. Barry (VBribn.
With an Introdnction by John £• Rbdmond, M.P. In crown 8vo,
doth gilt. 2b. 6d. net

THE ENGLISH IN CHINA. Being an account of the Intercourse and
Relations between England and China. From the year 1600 to
the year 1843 and a summary of Later Developments. By
J. Bromlby Eambs. M.A., B.C.L. In demy Svo. cloth gilt, gilt top.
with maps and illustrations. 20s. net.

" There are histories of the English in China already in existence,
but Mr. Bromley Eames can claim to have superseded them all." —
Globe.

OUTLINES OF THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OP ENGLAND. A Study
in Social Development. By H. O. Merbdith. M.A.. M.Com.
Girdlers' University Lecturer. In demy 8vo, cloth gilt. 5s. net.
" An able, instructive, and impartial work." — Tinus.
* Ready shortly.

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PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE

MAKERS OF NATIONAL HISTORY. Edited by W. H. Huttoh.
B.D. Each volnme in this anrie»— the aim of which is to do fuller
justice to men whose lives have not hitherto been adequately
dealt with — ^is in crown 8vo, cloth gilt, with a frontispiece. 3s. 6d. net.

CARDINAL BEAUFORT. By the Rev. L. B. Radford. D.D.

" Studiously impartial . . . carefully written." — Glasgow Herald,
VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH. By Arthur Hassaix. M.A.

" It is brilliantly written . . . exceptionally dear and vivid . . .
a most interesting book to read ... a book which was needed." —
Tke Morning Leader.

ARCHBISHOP PARKER. By W. M. Kbnnxdy. B.A.

" Exceedingly well conceived, clearly, expressed, and compiled
with great care." — The Gttardian,

GENERAL WOLFE. By Edward Salmon.

" A picture and an estimate of Wolfe which could not be more
complete." — Canada.

" An admirable study." — Daily Telegraph,

FRANCIS ATTERBURY, Bishop of Rochester (1662-1732). By the
Rev. H. C. Bbbcbino. M.A.. littD.. Canon of Westminster.

JEUX D' ESPRIT

HUSTLED HISTORY^ Or THE SPRINTER'S GUIDE TO KNOWLEDGE.

By the Authors of Wisdom While You Wait, Dlnstrated by
Gborgb Morrow. In crown Svo. paper covers. Is. net.

" Hustled History is really a scathing satire on the sacrifice to
sensationalism of tJie higher qualities cl joomalism. But there is
rollicking fun all through the book for those who Imow enough of
cheap newspapers and popular writers. The humour is light and
fresh all through, and there are illustrations and advertisements
equally characteristic and equally amusing." — Times.

IP, A Nightmare in the Conditional Mood« By the same Authors. In
crown 8vo. paper covers. Is. net.

" The ingenious work called IF, so admirably adorned with the
designs of Mr. George Morrow, consists of a series of airy fancies,
to which a reviewer can do but scant justice. . . . We can
honestly say that we have laughed over this little book as heartily
as over its predecessors." — Westminster Gazette,

MUSICAL MONSTROSITIES. By C. L. Graves. Illustrated by
Gborgs Morrow. In crown 8vo. Is. net.

** Mr. Graves has here brought to the service of the musical world
some of that power of ridictde which he has helped Mr. Lucas to
put into previous books of the kind, and this addition to the series
is just as full of topic and point as // and Hustled History.
Mr. Morrow's pictures add inestimably to the success and merit of
the book."— Pa// MaU Gaxette.

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BIETALLURGY AND NATURAL HISTORY
BIETALLURGY

AUSTRAUAN MINING AND METALLURGY. By Donald Clauc.
B.CE., M.M.E. A detailed description of the Metallnrgic Method!
employed in the process of Ore Treatment and Gold Recovery.
With numerous illustrations and diagrams. Royal octavo, doth
gilt. 21s. net.

* REPINING OF GOLD. By Donald Clark. B.CE. In demy 8vo.
cloth gilt, with illustrations. 7s. 6d. net.

THE METALLURGY OF TIN. By P. J. Thibault. F.CS. (Lond.).
With numerous illustrations. In demy 8vo. cloth gilt. 12s. 6d. net.

NATURAL HISTORY, ETC.

MY BACKYARD ZOO. A Course of Natural History. By the Ute
Rev. J. C. Wood. In crown 8vo. cloth gilt. 28.
" Really a complete course of natural history." — 7tM«5.

THE A B C OF POULTRY. By E. B, Johnstons. In crown 8vc
cloth 28. 6d. net.

" A capital addition to the many books devoted to the outdoo
life."— #orW.

CATS FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. By Miss Francbs Simpson
Third Edition. In crown 8vo. with 25 beautifully reproduced photo
graphs of famous prijee winning cats. 2s. net.

" The author explains that her object has been ' to help those
who desire to combine pleasure with profit.' This aim is very
successfully achieved." — Pall Mall GoEetU.

MINUTE MARVELS OF NATURE. By John J. Ward. Being some
revelations of the microscope. Illustrated by Photo-micrographs
taken by the Author. Qieaper Edition. In demy 8vo. cloth
gilt, gilt top. 3s. 6d. net.

PEEPS INTO NATURE'S WAYS. By the same Author. Being chapters
on insect, plant and minute life. Illustrated from photographs and
photo-micrographs taken by the Author. Cheaper Edition. In
demy 8vo. cloth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. net.

LIGHTER STUDIES OF A COUNTRY RECTOR. By the Rev.
John Vaughan. M.A., Canon of Winchester. In crown 8vo. cloth
gilt, gilt top. silk register. 5s. net.

IN WIND AND WILD. By Eric Parker. In crown 8vo. cloth gilt,
gilt top. silk register. 5s. net.

* Ready shortly.

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PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE

MISCELLANEOUS

BODY AND SOUL. By Percy Dbarmbr, M.A. An Enquiry into
the effects of Religion apon health with a description of Christian
works of healing from the New Testament to the present day.
In crown 8vo, doth gilt, ds. net.

CHILDREN'S SAYINGS. Edited, with a digression on the SmaU
People, by William CAinroM, author of The Chad's Booh of
Saints, etc. In fcap. Svo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with a frontispiece,
28. 6d.

CLERICAL HUMOUR OF OLDEN TIME. By F. D. How. Being
Sketches of some clerical humorists between the Twelfth and the
Eighteenth Centuries. In large crown Svo, cloth gilt, gilt top, with
firantispiece. fis. net.

" Six centuries of leisure and laughter are rep r es e n ted in this
amusing book. Altogether, B£r. How is to be congratulated on a
lively and diverting bode, which throws many sidelights on clerical
life in vanished centuries." — Stoniori.

DICTIONARY OF THE WORLD'S COMMERaAL PRODUCTS. With
equivalents in French, German, and Spanish. By J. A. Slater,
B.A., IJL.B. (Second Edition, Revised.) In demy 8vo, cloth gilt,
163 pp., 2s. 6d.

" It is a very useful book and will be valued in particular by
students of commercial geography. The list of products is very
complete ... a third edition is pretty sure to be called for." — Paii
MaU GatOU.

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL LIFE. By the Rev. J. Wilson Hakpbr.
D.D. In crown Svo, doth, 48. 6d. net. An attempt to show that the
goal of education is social service.

HOME GYMNASTICS FOR OLD AND YOUNG. By T. J. Hartblius.
M.D. Translated and adopted from the Swedish by C. LdFViNC.
With thirty-one illustrations. Fifth Edition, revised. With a
prefatory note by Arthur A. Bbalb, M.B. In stiff boards. Is. 6d.

HOUSEHOLD LAW. A Practical Handbook for the Householder. By
J. A. Slatbr, B. a., LL.B. (Lond.). In demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 5s. net.

HOW TO CHOOSE A HOUSE. How to Take it and Keep it By
Charlbs EiCAMUBL and E. M. Josbph. In crown 8vo, cloth, with
illustrations, Ss. 6d. net

" This book seems to us to contain well nigh all the information
that a person desiring to acquire a property could desire." — Record,

1912? GERMANY AND SEA POWER By Archibald R. Col-
QUHOUN. In crown 8vo, with cover design and maps by Hbrman
G. Hbrkomer, Is. net.

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mSCBLLANBOUS

LIGHTER MOMEHTS. From the note-book of Bishop Walsham How.
Edited by his soa, Prbdsuck Douglas How. In small crown 8vo,
doth gUt, gUt top, 28. 6d.

MODERNISM. A Rxcord and Rxvibw. By the Rev. A. Lbslis
LnxsY, M.A. In demy 8vo, doth gilt, St. net.

" For those who have only latdy begun to take an interest in
the liberal movement in the Roman Chnrdi, and who are
ignorant of its previous literature, this book will be invaluable. . . .
Mr. Lilley is admirably suited, both by knowledge and sympathy
to be the medium through whidi the modernist position may be
made known to the English public." — Church Tim$s.

MY KEY OF LIFE— OPTIMISM : An Essay. By Hblbn Kbllbr.
In foo]s<M 8vo, doth gih. Is. 6d. net With photogravure portrait.

ON LIFE'S THRESHOLD : Talks to Young People on Character and
Conduct By Pastor Charlbs Wagnbr. Translated by Edna St.
John. In crown Svo, doth gilt, gilt top, 3s. 6d. ; also in paper
Is. net

ON THE QUEEN'S ERRANDS. By Captain Philip Wymtbr. In demy
8vo, doth gilt, gilt top. 10b. 6d. net

" His varied experiences as a Queen's meisenffer on foreign
service are recounted with an unfailing vivadty, and with a liberal
mfnsion of good stories." — WorUU

SELECTIONS FROM THE WORKS OF BISHOP THOROLD. With a
Portrait. Preface by the Most Hon. and Most Rev. Randall
Davidson, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. In crown 8vo, doth
gilt, gilt top, 5s.

THE BOOK OF THE CHILD. An Attempt to Set Down what is in the
Mind of Children. By FRBDBRicK Douglas How. In foolscap Svo,
leather, with dainty cover design, gilt comers, 3s. 6d. net ; doth
2s. net

" A subtle analjrsis of the child-mind enlivened with pleasing
stories. Parents will do well to consult these entertaining pages.''
— Mudmtu.

THE INNER UFE OF THE NAVY. Being an Account of the Social Life
of the Navy as seen below deck. By Lionbl Ybxlby (Editor of
The Fleet.) With sixteen illustratkins. In demy 8vo, dotii gilt,
gilt top, 10b. 6d. net

" Mr. Yezley writes with an easy straightforward style. We
read him as we listen to a good atter-dinner speaker, with delightful
and eager attention. It is comforting to read a book by one who
knows something about it" — Morning Leader.

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PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE

THE LITERARY STUDY OF THE BIBLE. An accotmt of the leading
forms of literature in the Sacred Writings. Third Edition, revised.
By R. G. MouLTOW, BLA., Ph.D. In demy 8vo, doth gilt, gilt top,
lOs. 6d.

" A yalnable help to the study of the Sacred Writings. . . .
We heartily recommend this book." — Daily CkronicU.

THE PRACTICAL WISDOM OF THE BIBLE. Edited with an intro-
duction by J. St. Lob Strachby (Editor of The Spectator). In
demy 16mo. cloth gilt, gilt top, 2s. 6d. net ; leather Ss. 6d. net.
" No one after reading this elegant and carefully produced volume
can doubt that Mr. Strachey has done a good work in a thoroughly
good manner." — Standard.

• LAY SERMONS FROM " THE SPECTATOR. *' By M. C E. With

an Introduction by J. St. Loe Strachey. In crown 8vo, cloth gilt,

gilt top, silk register, 5s. net
THE PERSIAN PROBLEM. By H. J. Whzgham. With maps and

illustrations. In demy Svo, cloth gilt, 12s. 6d.
THE SIBIPLB LIFE. By Pastor Cbaxlbs Wagnbr. Translated from

the French by Mary LotnsB Hbndbb. With an Introduction and

Biographical sketch by Grace King. In foolscap Svo, cloth gilt.

Is. 6d. net New Edition. Also iu paper covers at 6<L net.
THE SPRING OF THE DAY. Spiritual Analogibs from thb Things

OF Nature. By the late Hugh Macmillan, D.D., LL.D. In

crown Svo, doth gilt, 3s. 6d. net.

" Luminous in a high degree, filled with matter for children's

addresses, and equally sure to prove instructive to persons of

mature years." — CkrisHam,
THE CLOCK OF NATURE. By the late Hugh Macmixxan, D.D.,

LL.D. In crown Svo, cloth gilt, Ss. 6d. net.

An attempt to brinff out the wise lessons which the objects of

Nature teach, and to illustrate the spiritual revelation of God in

Christ by the revelation of God in Nature.
THE POETRY OF PLANTS. By the Ute Hugh Macmillan, D.D.,

LL.D. In crown Svo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. net
A collection of popular studies, showing the many points of

beauty and interest about some of the oonmionest of our trees and

wild flowers.

" A deUghtful book . . ."-. Ckwck Tim$s.
THE SOCIAL RESULTS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY. By C. Schmidt.

Translated by Mrs. Thorpe. With Preliminary Essay by R.W.

Dalb, LL.D. In crown Svo, cloth gilt. Ss. 6d. net

" An easy book to read, and the educated layman will find it

full of vital iuterest, while the more exacting student will have the

further satisfaction of being provided with full and precise references

to the original authorities, in which many stautling assertions

are made." — NotHnghsm Daily Exprsss.

^ Ready immediately.

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MISCELLANEOUS AND POETRY

PITMAN'S WHERE TO LOOK. An Easy Gnide to Books of relcrencs.
In crown Svo. cloth, Is. net. Second Edition, Revised.

" Very mnch what the Review of Reviews is to other jonmals is
Pitman's Where to Look to other books of reference. This handy
little volnme wiU tell you at a glance which is the best book of
reference dealing with almost any subject under the sun. The
volume in no way supersedes any existing reference book, but is an
invaluable addition to one's library, as it intimates at once the
best source of information not only on general subjects to be found
in the ^miliar Whitakev or Hasell, but also on little-known matters,
as to which the plain man is often at a loss where to turn for
reference." — Bystander^

THE WORLD'S COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS. A Descriptive Account
of the Economic Plants of the World and of their Commercial Uses.
By W. G. Frbsman, B.Sc., F.L.S., and S. E. Chandlbr, D.Sc,
F.L.S. With contributions by T. A. H«nry. D.Sc., F.C.S.. C. E.
JONBS, B.Sc, F.L.S.. and E. H. Wilson. With 420 illustrations
from photographs and 12 coloured plates and maps. In demy 4to,
cloth gilt, gilt top. lOs. 6d. net.

"The new production deals in an interesting and exhaustive
fashion with the various economic plants of the world, and their
commercial uses, and is profusely illustrated. Whether cocoa
cultivation or wheat, Siamese rice-fields or Russian tea-gardens,
Borneo tobacco, Assam rubber, or turpentine in North Carolina —
whatever the product, in fact, the reader is told of its production
and treatment in most interesting fashion, and the profuse illustra-
tions are of great assistance. We imagine that the book will find
a warm welcome." — PaU Mall Gasette.

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE TEACHING OF MODERN SUBJECTS
IN ENGLAND. By Foster Watson, M.A. (Professor of Education
in the University College of Wales ; Aberystwyth). In crown Svo
cloth, 7s. 6d. net.

POETRY, AND CRITICISM

THE POETRY OF ROBERT BROWNING. By Stopfokd A. Brookb.
Original issue. In demy Svo, cloth gilt, IQs. 6d.

" The most satisfactory and stimulating criticism of the poet yet
published."— Tfuw*.

{See also Dainty Vohime Library, page 9.)

TENNYSON : HIS ART AND RELATION TO MODERN UFE.
the same Author. Original issue. In demy Svo, cloth gilt, 7s.

" Will make a strong appeal to all lovers of our great Laureate." —
Quartetly Review.

{See also Dainty Voltune Library, page 9l)
17

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PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE

A STUDY OF CLOUGH, ARNOLD, ROSSETTI, AND MORRIS. With
an Introduction on the Coarse of Poetry from 1822 to 1852. By
the same Anthor. In demy 8vo, doth gilt. 6b. net

" The book is a brilliant and remarkable stndy. The present
volnme by virtae of its moral insight, the range and depth of its
appreciation, its noble and eloquent candonr, and, above all, its
swift and exact hisight into the distinctive qualities of four poets
of real significance, is worthy — and we can give it no higher prajse —
to stand side by side with the aids to interpretation from the same
vivid and pictnresqne pens of the vanished masters who gave ns,
in the one case. In Memoriam and Idylis of the King, and, in the
other. Tke Ring and the Booh and Dramatic Lyrics.' "Standard.

THE POEKS OF JAMES HOGG. Thb Ettrick Shsphbrd. Selected
Hsd edited, with an Introdnction, by Wzlliam Waixacb, LL.D.
With photogravure portrait frontispiece. In crown 8vo, doth gilt,
gUt top. 58.

" Tlus admirable new edition may lead to a revival of interest
in ' the Shepherd.' " — Glasgow Evening News.

WITH THE WILD GEESE. Songs of Irish Exile and Lament. By
Emily Lawless. With an Introduction by Stopford A. Brooks.
In sq. 8vo, doth gilt, 4s. 6d. net.

POLITICS, ETC.

OLD-AGE PENSIONS: Are they Desirable and Practicable? By
Frbdbrick Rogers and Frederick Millar. In crown Svo, doth
28. 6d. net.

AUEN IMBIIGRATION : Should Restrictions be Imposed? By
Frederick Bradshaw. M.A., and Charles Emanuel, ILA. In
crown Svo, doth. 2s. 6d. net.

REUGIOUS LIBERTY IN ENGLAND. A Scheme for PROvmiMa
AND Securing Religious Liberty in England and Wales. By
J. FovARGUB Bradley. With Introductions by the Rev. Duoald
MACFADYBN, M.A., and the Rev. T. A. Lacey. In demy Svo.
Is. net.

"The book is obviously one which no one who cares for the
well-being of his country can ignore, and it should receive the
warmest welcome. Certainly a book to be read and studied." —
Pitblic Opinion.

NONCONFORMITY AND POLITICS. By A Noncontormist Mnnsm.
In crown 8vo. cloth gilt, Ss. 6d. net.

" It would be impossible that the lofty ideab and the iinpressive
language should iajl to have their efiect, and an inspiring effect. . . .
It is in every way a serious and notable worlc" — Daily News.

" One of the best and most impressive volumes of con U o v et sy
that has been issued for some years ... a noble protest, nobly
achieved ... as sound as it is courageous, and as true as it is
sonowfuL" — Methodist Recorder.

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SCIENCE AND SOCIOLOGY

SCIENCE

GREAT ASTRONOMERS. By Sir Robert Baix, D.Sc., LL.D.. F.R.S.
With namerons full-page and other illnstratioiia. In demy 8vo,
doth gilt, gilt top. 3b. 6d. net.

" Sir Robert Ball's gifts as a narrator are very great. He is, of
ooorse. a master of his subject. . . . The most earth-bound mortal
who opens this book mast go on with it." — Daily Chronicle.

IN STARRY REALMS. By the same Anthor. The Wonders of the
Heavens. With numerous fuU-page and other illustrations. In
demy Svo, doth gilt, gilt top, Ss. Sd. net.

" The style of popular exposition adopted throughout is indeed
admirable, the illustrations are excellent, the bincung is tasteful,
and the print good." — Saturday Review,

IN THE HIGH HEAVENS. By the same Author. A popular account
of recent interesting astronomical events and phenomena, with
numerous full-page and other illustrations. In demy 8vo, doUx gilt,
gilt top, 9b. 6a. net.

" It has." says The Scotsman, " the freshest knowledge and the
best sdentific thought."

ASTRONOMY FOR EVERYBODY. By Professor Simon NswcoifBS,
LL.D. With an Introduction by Sir Robert Ball. Illustrated.
A popular exposition of the Wonders of the Heavens. In demy Svo,
doth gilt, gut top, 3s. 6d. net.

BY LAND AND SKY. By the Rev. John M. Bacon, M.A., F.R.A.S.
The Record of a Balloonist. With four Illustrations. In demy
Svo, doth gilt, gilt top, Ss. 6d. net.

SOCIOLOGY

SOCIALISM. By Professor Robert Flint, LL.D. New, Revised and
Cheaper Edition. In demy Svo, cloth gilt, Sa, net.

" A new, revised and cheaper edition of Professor Flint's masterly
study will be generally welcomed. The revision has been carefully
carried out, but the original text has been as far as possible pre-
served. References show that the additional notes are well up
to date."— Dat/y Mail.

THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS. By Jack London. A study of the
social and economic conditions of life in the East End of London.
By the author of The Call of the Wild. With 24 illustrations from
actual photographs. In crown Svo, doth gilt, 6s.

"... Mr. Jack London, who is already known to the British
public as a fine descriptive writer, has done for the East End oi
London, what he did for the Klondyke— has described it fully and
faithfullv, looking at it as intimately as dispassionatdy." — DaOy
Chronicle,

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PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE

WHAT IS SOCIAUSM ? By " Scotsbukn." An attempt to <

the principles and policy propounded by the advocates of Socialism.
In demy Svo, cloth gilt, 78. 6d.

TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT

THE ADVENTURER IN SPAIN. By S. R. Crockbtt. With 162
' illnstrations by Gordon Brownb and from photographs taken by
the Author. In large crown 8vo. doth gilt, 6s.

AROUND AFGHANISTAN. By Major de Bonillane de Lacoste.
Translated from the French by J. G. Anderson. With five maps
and 113 iUnstratians. In super royal ^o, doth gilt, gilt tclp,
lOs. 6d. net

" This beautifully illustrated book of travels takes the reader
through Persia, to Yarkand, and other famous dties of Turkestan,
induding Samarkand, with its majestic tomb of Tamerlane. A
valuable photographic record of little-trodden regions." — Ewmmg
Standard.

CASTLES AND CHATEAUX OF OLD TOURAINE. and the Loire
Country. By Francis Miltoun and Blancrs McManus. With
seventy illustrations reproduced from, paintings made on the spot,
and maps, plans, etc. in large crown ^o, doth richly gilt, gilt top,
7s. 6d. net

'* One of the most delightful travel books that we have come across
for some time." — ComUry Lif$,

CASTLES AND CHATEAUX OF OLD NAVARRE and the Basque
Provinces. By the same Authors. With sixty-three illustrations
(some in colour), maps, plans, etc. In Uurge crown Svo. doth richlr
gilt, gilt top, 7s. 6d. net.

" The book is well worth reading, not merdy as a travd handbook,
but for its sympathetic, social and historical review of a very
interesting section of the French people." — Irish Times,

• CASTLES AND CHATEAUX OF OLD BURGUNDY. Induding
those of Dauphiny and the Savoy. By the same authors.

IN THE LAND OF MOSQUES AND MINARETS. By the same Authocs.
With seventy-five illustrations, in colour and black and white,
maps, plans, etc. In large crown Svo, doth gilt, ^t top, with
cover of charming design, 7s. 6d. net

" A comprehensive account of Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis, and
of Mussulman government, religion, art, culture, and French
influence. Picturesquely illustrated." — Times.

* Ready immediately.

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TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT

THRBE YEARS' SPORT IN MOZAMBIQUE. By G. Vassb. Trans-
lated from the French by R. Lydbkker, F.R.S., and H. M.
Lydbkbxr. With 80 illnstratioos. In super royal Svo, doth gilt,
8b. 6d. net.

ITALY OF THE ITAUANS. By Hxum Ziicmbsm. In imperial 16mo,
doth gilt, gilt top, with 31 full page illustrations, 68. net

"The reading paUic owe a debt of gratitude to Miss Helen
Zimmem for this truly admirable book. . . . The knowledge and

C' dgment displayed in the vdnme are truly astoondmg, and the
hour the author has expended on it has made it as indispensable as
Baedeker to the traveller, as well as invaluable to the student ol
modem times. It is just what it should be, and what books with
similar objects so seldom are. and it will long remain a monument
to the author's talents. Miss Zinunem leaves us no excuse for not
understanding the Italy of to-day." — Daily T$Ugraph.

FRANCE OF THE FRENCH. By E. Hasrison Barker. In imperial
16mo, doth gilt, gilt top, with 32 full-page illustrations, 6s. net.

" A book of general information concerning the life and genius
of the French people, with especial reference to contemporary
France. Covers every phase of French intellectual Uf e — architecture,
pla3rer8, science, and invention, etc. — Timss,

" It is altogether an exceedingly informative book and should
be very useful in prom o ting a reasonable understandins of the
French people. Thm are numerous illustrations, and these are
excellently reproduced and printed." — Liv§fpoci Courur,

•SWITZERLAND OF THE SWISS. By Frank Wbbb. With 32
full-page plate illustrations. In imperial 16mo, doth gilt, gilt top,
6s. net.

SPAIN OF THE SPANISH. By Mrs. Vzlubrs-Wardbll. In imperia
I6mo.. doth gilt, gUt top, with 32 illustnitians, 68. net.

SERVIA AND THE SERVIANS (see page 10).
NATIVE LIFE IN EAST AFRICA. (See page 10).

THE ENGUSH IN CHINA. (See page 11.)

• Esady shortly.

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PITMAN'S CATALOGUE OF GENERAL LITERATURE

TRAVEL, TOPOGRAPHY, AND SPORT (conid.]

THE '' ALL RED" SERIES. A new series of books descripiw$
of the BHHsh Empire as it is to-day.

Each volume is in demy 8vOp cloth gilt, red edges, with 16 fnll-pa^
plate illiistratioiis, maps, etc, 7s. §d. net.

THE COMMONWEALTH OP AUSTRAUA. B7 the Hon. Bbsh-
HAso RiNGROSS WisB (formerly Attorney-General of New Sooth
Wales).

" The ' All Red ' Series should become known as the Well-Read
Series within a short space of time. Nobody is better qoalified to
write of Australia than the late Attorney-General of New South
Wales, who knows the country intimately and writes of it with
enthusiasm. It is one of the hesit accounts of the Island Cootineiit
that has 3ret been published. We desire to give a hearty welcome
to this series." — Globe.

" He writes on its laws, its institutions, its politics, all its afibizs.
as one in authority, but ¥^t we like best is that he writes humanly,
not in the high and dry style of some historians." — DaUy Ckromae.

THE DOMINION OP NEW ZEALAND. By Sir Arthur P. Douglas.
Bt*. formerly Under-Secretary for Defence, New ZealaiMl, and
previously a Lieutenant, R.N.

Sir Arthur's long residence in New Zealand, and his varied
experience of official life, especially qualify hhn lor the task under-
taken b^ him of writing a book baaed upon the most reiiafalft
information brought up to the present date.

Other volumes in preparaHoiu

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CATALOGUES AND PERIODICALS

CATALOGUES, ETC.

Sir Isaac Pitman ft Sons, Ltd., have pleasure in calling attention to

the following Catalogues of Books puUished by tlienu They will be

pleased to send on application any of these Catalogues, all of which

* have been brought up to data

[B] PITMAN'S COMBIERaAL SERIES. A List of Books suitable lor
use in Evening Schools and Classes, and for Relerenoe in Business
Houses. 40 pp.

[q PITMAN'S EDUCATIONAL BOOKS (Primary). Illustrated. 56 pp.

[PI Ditto, un-illustrated. 44 ppw

[E] PITMAN'S UST FOR INFANT SCHOOLS. Books for the Child

and the Teacher. Illustrated. 16 pp. with Supplement.

[F] SOME TEXT-BOOKS specially adapted for Evening and Com-

mercial Schools. 16 ppi«

[G] PITMAN'S BUSINESS HANDBOOKS. 16 pp.

[H] PITMAN'S SHORTHAND, TYPEWRITING, STATIONERY
AND COMMERUAL LANGUAGES CATALOGUEi 86 pp.

[K] A CATALOGUE OF EDUCATIONAL BOOKS suitable for use in
Secondary Schools and of books recommended for School FriMS*

[N] A CATALOGUE OF THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS
LITERATURE. 16 pp.

PERIODICALS.

Pitman's Journal; Pitman's Shorthand Weekly; The
Teacher ; The Magazine of Commerce ; The Bookshelf ;
The Success Ladder; The Postage Stamp; etc., etc

Specimens on Application.

Any who may happen to be in the neighbourhood of St« Plaol's
Cathedral axe cordially invited to visit Sir Isaac Pitman ft Sons' Show
Room, at 14 Warwick Lane, where their publications may be examined
at leisure.

Sirlsmac FUmtm <S> 5oMt, Ltd,, London^ Bath, Ntw York and Toronto,

.% -

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THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST BATE
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AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS

WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN

THIS BOOK ON THE DATE PUE, THE PENALTY
WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH
DAY AND TO Sl.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY
OVEftDUE,

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NOV 14 1957

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FORM NO. D06

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. BERKELEY
BERKELEY. CA 94720-6000

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